The World With you
by CharlotteValentine
Summary: Love Live! With Digimon AU. TsubaHono as main pairing, NozoEli as BG pairing. The story is basically about Honoka and friends playing a popular game called Digimon Online. I actually want to add this as cross over, but since the story will be fully focused on LL Character, so..yeah... also added a lot of information to keep people up with the detail of story.
1. Ch1 : Start!

**While waiting for the rest of chapter in Fading Whisper finished to be edited, I'm going to post the first chapter of Digimon AU LL!**

 **This time, i got editing help from LightRiver33**

 **Hope you Enjoy it!**

 **Also, please note that this is a Digimon AU, it's ok if you doesn't know Digimon~ I'm trying my best to put all explanation in. Then if you don't know how the Digimon looked, you can browse them in Google~**

* * *

A small static noise made in her cellphone—waking the ginger-haired girl from her slumber…

 _Dancing—Dancing, Non-stop my Dancing!_

The song echoed in her mind. She wondered why the song hasn't left her thought, she has never been fond of music or anything related to it. Her life has always been filled with culinary knowledge and all, so there is no way of her to be able to memorize a song.

Putting that aside, she probably needs to remember what she really needs to do in the morning…

Her alarm clock began to sing—her cellphone began to shout. Both are set to remind her that she needs to wake up for school.

Slowly, she snoozed both of them—then raised her body stiffly. Eyes still too heavy—the light is still too bright.

After a few minutes passed, she finally decided to get off the bed and walk to the bathroom, leaving the room empty—her cellphone that was now placed on the end table began to make the similar static that woke her up.

Another minute passed. This time, she is walking back to her room—covered with only a bathrobe. Next, she moves toward her wardrobe to chang into her school uniform. When she did—another her cellphone made a static again.

She noticed it…

She picked her cellphone up and trying to understand what just happened to it.

She tried to remember what happened to it before this…

She remembered that there's a girl from UTX—she said her name was…

 _Kira Tsubasa…._

Then she also said…

 _It would be nice to see you around some more…_

And that was the time she returned her cellphone that she picked up from the ground.

At the time her cellphone fell, she was watching a music video—but she couldn't recall who they are or what they truly are…

She certainly wasn't interested in it…

Not that it can do anything to her life which she feels is somewhat boring. She wanted to have some excitement—an adventure…or anything could do at this rate. She doesn't want to just go to school and do school stuff… she doesn't want to just meet her friends and hang out to talk about school life…

Her thoughts went back toher cellphone…. She remembers that there was something that happened between her and the person that named Kira Tsubasa….

She held her hand and said…

 _I want to see you again tomorrow…_

 _It's ok if you're just going to walk by…_

 _As long as I can see you again…._

That person also asked to her.

 _Oh, perhaps we should exchange our number… is that ok?_

She wasn't sure of what to say to her. She think she was mesmerized—or something like that…

 _No? Then…let me add my number to your cellphone, please give me a call… …_

That person said before she took her cellphone— then she returned it and walked towards the crowd that was watching the same music video she was watching.

The ginger haired girl still wasn't sure of what she should say—or what she will have to talk about if she ever gives her a call. She never knew her—not that she needs to know about her. Perhaps it's better to ignore it for now and focus on getting herself to school.

* * *

The Otonokizaka Highschool,

The ginger haired girl walks through the entrance—she might be clumsy, but she always arrives early to school. When she was close to her classroom, she overheard a few girls talking…

"Hey, did you know? I saw Ayase-senpai go into the Digital World last week!"

"E-Eh?! Don't tell me! Ayase senpai plays Digimon Online?!"

"Most likely. What else would her reason be if she's not playing Digimon Online?"

"To accompany Toujou-senpai perhaps?"

"Well…I did see Ayase-senpai and Toujou-senpai together…but eh—they're always together…it's almost too scandalous!"

"I always knew Toujou-senpai plays Digimon Online, she likes to boast about her two perfect grade cats Digimon..."

"Two? I never knew that someone could get two Digimon partner?"

"Luck—I heard. It's not that much luck, but still lucky! Or…maybe she paid handsomely?"

"Wow… it can takes over five hundred thousand yen to get two partners! Then there is the challenge of getting the perfect grade Digimon!"

"Yep, it's a pain to get that sort of thing, we need to keep resetting our accounts to be able to catch the perfect Digimon without using cash. It takes a lot of time too…"

The ginger haired girl decided to pass on the rest of the conversation—she has absolutely no idea what Digimon truly is.

It sounded somewhat fun though…

* * *

She enters the classroom and sat on her usual spot—a Blue Haired girl approached her and slams her hand on her table….

"Honoka! You forgot to Log Out from your social media account again last night—someone hacked your blog!"

"H-Huh?! What? I didn't even—…"

"Here! Look!" the blue haired girl shows her cellphone screen …

It shows that Honoka posted a notification that she is now playing Digimon Online…

"W-whatt?! I didn't even register for it!" she said.

"Then the hacker sent me this—!" Umi showed her a chat.

 ** _Honoka:_** _Hold this for me…._

 _ID: ShineeWingsLove_

 _Pass: T4sty8un1s6ood_

 ** _Umi:_** _Huh? What is this?_

 ** _Umi:_** _Honoka?!_

 ** _Umi:_** _Hey, answer me! What is this?! Is it your account for playing Digimon Online?_

 ** _Umi:_** _You know you shouldn't play Digimon Online because you're still way behind in your study?_

 ** _Honoka:_** _Tell her, I'll be looking forward to her first play. I just registered her account so she can feel free to pick her own partner!_

 ** _Umi:_** _Wait! This isn't Honoka! This is not how she speaks!_

 ** _Umi:_** _Beside, even if this is Honoka or her sister—you can't possibly be awake at the time like this!_

 ** _Umi:_** _Log her account out—Now! Else I will find you and rip you apart!_

 _—Honoka has logged out—_

Umi took a deep breath,

"Understand what I mean now?!" Umi said to her loudly.

"I have never registered a Digimon Account! Not that I was interested or anything! I also didn't log to any social media yesterday! I swear I was studying and all!"

"Did you stop somewhere and log your account from a public computer?!"

"I went straight to home after I listened to the Music Video in front of UTX! There's no reason for me to log in any public place!"

"Then how could that be happen if it's not because of your clumsiness?!"

"No idea! I swear!" Honoka replied.

"Now-now…" a chirping voice heard from a little distance…

"What's happening here?" an Ash brunette joined them,

"Kotori! Honoka got hacked again… and this time, she registered her to play Digimon Online…even invited her to play as well…"

"Digimon Online? Well…isn't that good?" Kotori replied.

"No way! Honoka shouldn't play any games before she gets her grades up!"

"Hehe…Digimon online is very fun and helpful though… I've heard from my mother that many rich people play Digimon Online. They have to pay about ten thousand yen to register—then after that, they will be allowed to use Program called Digimon Capture for free once, if they were not satisfied with the Digimon that they captured, they can set them free and pay for another round which will cost about five thousand yen per try…."

"So it's not only bad for her—but will be also bad for her family! Just imagine how much money you will spend for that?! Plus, what if that hacker is using your family's money to register your account?!"

"Uh—I don't even know if my family has any credit cards…." Honoka said.

"It's fine, Umi-chan… the hacker probably used their money—because Digimon Online doesn't take transfer cash for registering, so they should somehow go in to the admissions of Digital World and register her there…"

"Still! This is really bad for her!" Umi said.

"Hehe—then, what if I register you to play along with me and Honoka-chan?" Kotori asked.

"W-what?! No!" Umi replied with blush on her face.

"Trust me, it will be fun!" Kotori said again.

"No…I can't! I'm busy!" Umi said.

"Pleaseeeeee!" Kotori begged.

"K-K-Kotoriii! You know I'm weak with that sort of thing!" Umi said, trying to prevent herself from listening to her begging voice.

"Pleaaaassseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Kotori emphasized her begging again.

"F…Fine…I'll play…. But let me pay for my account myself, ok?"

"Yaay! That's a promise, Umi-chan!" Kotori said cheerfully.

The bluenette sighed,

"Sheesh, seriously though, what's so good about this Digimon Online….?"

"Hehe, first, you will get a real adventure! Second, you will get a friend to talk to! They're very knowledgeable, you know!"

"Hmm…. friend…?" Umi wondered,

Honoka has been paying attention to them, a part of her has already been convinced to actually play the said game…

"Like this!" Kotori showed a strange but pretty looking device— it looks like goggles with a microphone attached and it perfectly fits a cellphone-like device positioned on one ear, and covered with a flowery decoration on the very side…

"W-what is that?" Umi asked.

"It's called Digivice! Hehe….Do you want to try?" Kotori offered.

"H-how do you use this?" Umi asked.

"Just wear it—you know how it supposed to be worn like! It's just like goggles with a one-sided headphone and a microphone!" Kotori replied.

Umi decided to wear it like how it supposed to, then Kotori sets something up before Umi realized that she is connected somewhere….

"Chun-chun! Chun-Chun!" a cute voice heard from the headphone, a projected image of a pink bird-like creature with red beak appeared in a short distance.

"W-what? W-Who is this…?!" Umi asked

"Eh…? You're not Kotori-chan… who are you…?" the Pink Bird asked her,

"That's Umi-chan, Biyomon!" Kotori said.

"Aah—! Kotori-chan! Are you having a friend try on your digivice?"

"Yep! Hehe! She wants to play Digimon Online soon too!"

"Ooohhh! That's good! That means we will have a friend to travel with, right?"

"Two friends!" Kotori said cheerfully.

"Two?! Nice! I wonder what they will pick! I hope I can get along with them!"

"For sure!" Kotori replied again.

"Alright then! Hehe! Biyomon is looking forward to meeting your two friends!" Biyomon replied before the connection went off.

"I just know that this is an earmuff with a speaker next to it!" Umi said as she took off the Digivice.

"We can set it the other way—but I don't really like it…" Kotori replied.

"Oh…."

"Sooo…how about it? Are you interested now?" Kotori asked.

"Yes! I am!" Honoka suddenly said loudly.

"And…Umi-chan?" Kotori asked.

"I guess I'll try…." Umi replied.

"Then, that's set! We're going to the Digital world!"

* * *

Afterschool, the Digital World Terminal;

Kotori helped Umi and Honoka get their first arrival tutorial session after they completed their registration. Upon reaching the terminal, they were told how to use it to Log into the game. It took only a few minutes for both Honoka and Umi to learn—thankfully, Honoka is very determined with it so that she had all of her focus on it as well.

After the two finished their session, they hopped into a capsule-like machine and transported themselves into the Digital World to catch up with Kotori who logged in long before they did.

* * *

The Digital World;

Honoka found herself in a place that looked like a big city with terminals in almost every corner. People are going in and out and a few unknown creatures seem to be moving around the city without even being feared by anyone.

Umi was so astonished by the beauty of the scene and she enjoys it as much as Honoka does, except she is still expecting herself to regret playing this…

"Whooaaaaa! This is reaaallllyy coooooollll!" Honoka shouted excitedly.

"Honoka! Keep your focus! We still need to get our Partner Digimon, remember?" Umi said.

"Oh–right! So…How are we going to do it, Kotori-chan?" Honoka asked.

"Hehe, First of all, let me give you some tips since I've been here longer than you two!" Kotori replied.

"Mm-mm…so what is it that we need to know?" Honoka asked.

"First of all, it's the types of Digimon. You've seen the explanation in the tutorial, right?"

"Yep! They said, Digimon has three types: Vaccine, Data, and Virus!" Honoka replied.

"While Virus is stronger against Data, Data is stronger against Vaccine, then Vaccine is stronger against Virus…" Umi said, repeating the tutorial.

"Yep! But it's not only like that. Level, Rank and Grade of Digimons also matter—then remember there's also element!"

"Ah—right, I've heard about Grade of Digimons in the tutorial. It says, it determines the strength of their status. But I have no idea how to see their grade or how to get better graded Digimon?"

"Hehe, the bigger the Digimon, the higher their grade. It's not the size between species though, it's the size in their species. I don't know about the cap of the grade but I heard the current highest is 250%, A Renamon that won in the latest Rookie Digimon Tournament…"

"R…Renamon?" Umi flustered.

"Hehe, it's a fox Digimon… I heard it was just recently that she showed up in the tournament."

"I…I see…." Umi nodded,

"What's the average grade?" Honoka asked.

"Mmm..well, there are some people who plays Digimon online just for fun, they usually have smaller Digimon—like about 80% until 119%? It's called 3 stars Digimon. Then the average grade for Adventure Digimons are about 120%-200% which are 4 stars Digimon...while Fighter Digimons are 201% and above… and that would be 5 stars Digimon."

"Is there a way to increase their grade?" Umi asked.

"Hmmm..there is…by getting miracle fruits! They're very rare though! Then sometimes it could decrease their grade instead…."

"W-wow…that's a pain…can you go from 5 stars to 4 stars?"

"Yep, it's possible…but so is 3 stars to 5 stars!" Kotori replied.

"Great!" Honoka said cheerfully.

"But…now that means that you don't really need skill to play this…" Umi said.

"Not really, you do need a lot of skill! It's not that simple! You also need to think of how to maximize your Digimon skill—it takes a lot of research! Simply having a 5 stars Digimon won't make you the greatest tamer!" Kotori replied.

"What other thing we need to understand?" Honoka asked.

"Hmm… like…what your Digimon is truly good at and how their statuses affect their skills and ability…for example, my Biyomon scales her attack from physical attack status, so there's no point for me to train her magic attack…then, even though defenses are needed—it's still not that effective for her to be trained on defense— training her in speed would be better!" Kotori explained.

"How do you know about your Digimon's status?" Umi asked.

"You will be able to see it from your Digivice!" Kotori replied.

"Oh—then, what about the training? How do you do it?" Umi asked again.

"Everytime your digimon levels up, you get about 5 training points! You can spend them in the gym!"

"Uh...what if we want to change our digimon statuses? Like…we're mistaken about their status and wanted to do it all over…?"

"Hehe, you will need Reset Disk! You get three free Reset Disks upon getting your Digimon, also some other things that you will need! I'm about to use one soon—since you two are playing with me now!"

"E-eh? But why?"

"Isn't it going to be too much a hassle for you?" Umi asked.

"Nope, hehe, I've always wanted to be a support! It was so much trouble to level up if I didn't make my Biyomon attacker, I also spend so much on battle supplies to keep her around! If I'm to be support, I can stand in the back line and support you two while you two do the killing!"

"K-K-Killing?!" Umi and Honoka raises her eyebrow.

"Yep! Killing Wild Digimons! That's the only way to get experience!" Kotori said.

"I...isn't that cruel? I mean… our Digimons are…well… Digimons… to make them kill each other is a little…." Umi doubted her words.

"Nope, hehe… most of the wild Digimons don't have consciousness—If you read the digi-pedia, they explained that the Digital world is currently struggling with the population of Uncommunicative Parasitic Wild Digimons, from the smallest to the biggest. That's why, they are forming an alliance with Humans to help them increase the population of Digimon that can be communicated with and also have an actual culture. You train them to be stronger while suppressing this parasitic population—then those Digimon will also able to help you in whatever you need in our world!"

"T-they can travel there?" Umi asked.

"They can, but it's not allowed to take them out. Only some people can do that...like the authorities…"

"What kinds of things has Biyomon helped you with until now?" Honoka asked.

"Hehe…by becoming my dress model and also helping me research for references!"

"Oh…."

"The best thing about her is that she is also very supportive! She told me herself that she always wanted to be a support Digimon than an attacker! That's why she was so happy when she heard about you two!"

"I...is that so? Then I guess we both will have to find a Digimon that could complete the team…" Umi said,

"Don't worry! You can get any Digimon and just raise them like how you always wanted! Their evolution will be different according to that!"

"Oh…is that so?"

"Yep! Then once they are evolved—you will get their evolution saved in your digivice, you can evolve them and de-evolve them anytime! But remember, evolving them into something higher than Rookie class will require energies! That's why, you will have to do it slowly to get yourself used to it!"

"I see…"

"Any more question?" Kotori asked—and as she did, an announcement was made…

"Dear Players—We're making this announcement to remind you that the Champion Tournament is about to start soon! Please make sure to be inside the Tournament Hall in 15 minutes!" a female voice said.

Then a call in Kotori's Digivice appeared which she quickly responded to,

"Chun-Chun! Kotori-chan! Where are you? We have a tournament soon!" Biyomon said.

"Ah—right! I'll be there!" Kotori said.

"Tournament?"

"Yup! Hehe…you two want to watch? Maybe it will help you to decide what kind of Digimon you want!"

Umi and Honoka turn their sight to each other, nodded as they agreed with the idea.

* * *

The Tournament Hall;

It doesn't take long for them to find a seat in the audience— Honoka and Umi sat on their bench without Kotori on their side, but there were some other tamers and their rookie Digimon who seem to be excited to watch as well.

Kotori is sitting on the contestant bench, along with her Biyomon who has been stretching to prepare herself for the battle. Honoka is very intrigued with how tamers seem to have different way to prepare their Digimon. While Kotori and Biyomon seems to be casually working it out, some tamer are being strict and some are just too relaxed…

There's this one tamer though—one tamer that looks somewhat interesting for Honoka. The tamer is wearing a white cape, she is also casually preparing her Digimon—a black lizard-like Digimon with two feet and two arms, small tail and big green eyes.

 _Who is the name of that Digimon?_

She wondered…

 _And why does his tamer look somewhat interesting to me?_

She asked herself.

After a moment of thinking, the announcer started to speak:

"Welcome to the Champion Tournament! After passing through the Rookie stage, a digimon will evolve into a champion phase. It may still be far from a real adult in their term, but as what we have always said—it is neither too early nor too late for them to test their strength. That's why this Champion Tournament is held to prove their power and also how well their tamers have raised them…" the speech continued.

While Umi is focusing on listening to what the announcer is saying—as announcer began to introduce the second announcer, Honoka's attention returned to the interesting tamer. At one point, the interesting tamer seems to notice that Honoka has been looking—giving a cheerful and somewhat friendly wave to her.

Honoka is flustered, did she know this person? Or perhaps that person was waving to someone else?

Just a moment after, two more tamers with the similar white capes approach her. There were also two other Digimon, one is a dragon-like Digimon with the Japanese-Traditional armor-like scales, yellow fur on its two legs and an adorable looking face with the Japanese Traditional helmet, the second one is a pink flower-like Digimon, floating around their tamers as they speak with each other.

A Starting Bell Ringing, snapped Honoka from her thoughts. She let her attention focus on the Arena Ring—it wasn't Kotori or anyone she knows, but there's a Blue Wolf-like Digimon fighting against a Devil-like humanoid Digimon.

"Ready?!" a male announcer said,

"Set!" A female announcer continued,

"Gooo!" Both of them said.

The fight started when they attempted to freeze their enemy with their breath, then continued with some physical damages , biting and scratching. There's no blood or anything that drops—instead, there's some static when they receive damage.

Honoka is now very interested on understanding how they fight—it appears to be that the tamer could encourage them or give them commands through the microphone of their digivice. It seems that the blue wolf-like Digimon is very well organized while the devil-like Digimon….

Doesn't seem to obey his trainer who yelled so loud in his digivice's microphone…

The fight began to show the result—The Devil-like Digimon is starting to get exhausted. Then, a red signal is sounded so sudden…

"Oooh! Looks like we have our winner already!" said the announcer.

"That's too bad, Devimon! Garurumon is the winner for this match!" said the other announcer.

The devil-like Digimon left the Arena Ring so quickly, the Blue-wolf Like Digimon howled with his pride before he jump rolled in an excitement. He was then returning to his tamer and transformed back into….

A penguin-like Digimon….

"W-what?!" Umi exclaimed in her surprise.

"Oo…so that's what Kotori-chan said before… even a penguin can turn into a wolf in this game?"

* * *

A few more matches happened before Kotori finally gets her turn.

This time, she is going against a snake like creature—with yellow head and blue skin, it's pretty obvious that it's a water Digimon... while Kotori's Biyomon has evolved into a fiery bird.

"Maaan… that's an obvious win…" said a person near their bench. Umi and Honoka turned their attention to him.

"Really? Seadramon versus Birdramon? We all know who is winning! It's Data against Vaccine! Water against Fire!" said the other.

Honoka and Umi turn their sight to each other—worried that it might be a bad thing for Kotori. Though, the Ash Brunette doesn't look that much worried.

When she entered the Arena Ring, she de-evolved her Birdramon back into Biyomon.

"W-what? Is she giving up?" A person in the audience seat said, Honoka and Umi also surprised to see it happen.

"Looks like it…?" the other audience said.

Down in the Ring, Kotori pats her Biyomon back and she whispered to her.

"Don't get caught, I'll help you out…"

"Yup! Biyomon believes in you, Kotori-chan!" Biyomon replied.

Then Biyomon ran to the ring, with a Seadramon staring deeply to her as if he has been hungry enough to be able to beat her.

The battle begia when the signal is sounded, Seadramon immediately blasted water into Biyomon—which is dodged so quickly.

"Ooo…that's a really quick Biyomon!" appreciated one of the watchers.

Honoka and Umi are somewhat relieved…

"That won't do much, you know… remember that you're allowed to use one card? If I'm to be Seadramon's tamer, I'll throw in an Accuracy card watch this Biyomon freeze and get mauled!"

And once again, Honoka and Umi began to worry…

"Hah! I knew this would happen! I'm activating Hyperspeed card!" said the Seadramon tamer as he tap his card on a machine attached on his wrist...

Swiftly, Kotori attached the same machine—the sound of the belt clicking and the swift movement followed by her taping a card…

"Reverse Type Evolution!" Kotori shouted.

Well—it looked really cool, even though it may not that necessary to have that much. A dramatic effect is created on the Ring, Biyomon is evolving…

The Fiery bird from before was red—but this time, she turned into a pitch black fiery bird.

"Ooooo! That's Brilliant!" said an audience member.

"Saberdramon! That's a Virus which has an Electric move! Seadramon is a toast!" said the another.

"Man—who would've thought that before? Tamers are getting smarter and smarter!" another chimed in.

Honoka and Umi would've got their jaw dropped right now—but they can barely move from their spot, nor were their eyes willing stop looking and appreciating how cool their friend is.

"Saberdramon! Gooo!" Kotori yelled cheerfully and cutely as Saberdramon charged an electricity sparks, then it flies up to the mid-air before a powerful single thunder blasted on Seadramon which easily knock him down.

"K-O!" The Announcer said.

The Audience roared in amazement.

"Hehe! Thank you! Thank you!" Kotori waved and bowed to the audiences.

* * *

A few more matches were held after hers,

The first Battle Set finished and all Tamers are given 30 minutes of break. Kotori sat on the tamers benches along with her Biyomon. Honoka and Umi decided to get some snacks and drinks before approaching her.

"T-That was really cool! Kotori!" Umi appreciated.

"Yeah! I really like that!" Honoka appreciated as well.

"Really? Hehe…I'm glad! There's still three more battles coming up if I win the next one! Wish me luck!"

"How do you think it will turns out?" Umi asked.

"Honestly, hehe…I don't know! But we will see! I got the first turn at the second set!"

"Really? That's great!" Honoka appreciated.

Just a moment after, three tamers with white capes passed by— and that's also the time when Honoka turn herself around, noticing that she was being observed by one of the white caped tamers. She saw a hint of smile—and she also a feeling that she has met this person before….

Honoka's eyes are following this person for more than a minute—she keeps wondering who this person might be, yet she has no courage to make an approach. It's so strange that she has never had this problem before…

"What is it… Honoka?" Umi asked.

The ginger haired girl jumped slightly from the question…

"Uh..Nothing, hehe!" she replied as she scratched her head shyly.

"Anyway… tell me, Kotori… have you ever done this before? You looked so experienced…" Umi asked.

"Yup, a few times, in fact. My biyomon was a little messy before–but I wasn't that far from getting the right status for her… right Biyomon?" Kotori said,

"Yup! Hehe! Biyomon got beaten so badly by a Data Digimon in previous Champion Tournament! It was so terrible! That's why Kotori-chan got Biyomon that card!" Biyomon said.

"We've to build a few skills too to be able to overcome our weakness! It was so hard!" Kotori said.

"Did you try the rookie tournament before?" Umi asked.

"Hehe, yup, I have to say it's the hardest one at first, because we couldn't use any card and not allowed to evolve our digimon too! But once our digimon is well trained, getting through that is easy!"

"That's amazing! Now I'm very eager to get my Digimon!" Honoka said.

"Do you take any interest on any Digimon you saw?" Kotori asked.

"Mmm..sort of? I'm still not sure which kind I want…what about you, Umi-chan?" Honoka replied.

"Uh…I'm interested on the Wolf-like Digimon…what was his name again… Garurumon?"

"Ah! That one! Hehe… It's a very disciplined Digimon! I think he fits you!" Kotori said.

"Really? Then I want to get him… he was from…a Penguin?" Umi asked.

"You can get him easier if you are getting Gabumon… but I think I like Penguinmon better too!"

"Biyomon also like Penguinmon better too!"

"Alright then, that's set! I'm getting a Penguinmon and train him into Garurumon!" Umi said with full of spirit.

* * *

30 minutes passed,

Kotori and Biyomon luckily finished their food 15 minutes before the next battle. Starting with 100% power is always good—and it was all thanks to her friends.

"Welcome back to the tournament! Now we're going to start the next Battle set!" the announcer said,

The two steps into the ring…

"Good Luck, Kotori!" Umi said—she and Honoka were already back on their seats.

"Gooooo! Kotori-chaaann!" Honoka shouted cheerfully as she raises her fist.

The Ginger girl was about to cheer something else again, but she noticed that Kotori's opponent this time is the white caped tamer with Black Lizard-like Digimon. The two tamers evolved their Digimon, Biyomon turned into Birdramon while the other one into a Big Dinosaur like Digimon with red stripe on its black skin.

"Ah—now that Birdramon is in the advantage! Dark-Tyrannomon is a Virus and super slow… she surely will win this!" said an audience next to Honoka and Umi.

Just right at the time battle started,

Kotori used a card,

"Power up!" she said as she taps her card to the machine on her wrist.

Kotori is confident that she will win this one—her eyes, is burning with passion to reach the victory, but….

When the white caped tamer also used a card…

A card that called as 'Dragon Vessel'… with gold frame…

Her eyes began to show another expression….

"G-G-gold framed card?!" said one of the audiences.

Honoka and Umi have no idea about what a Gold Card mean… but they're pretty sure that it might be the rarest card or something like it…

"Birdramon! Let's make it quick!" Kotori said.

"Got it!" the fiery bird reply as she started to make her attack to the Dark Dinosaur-like digimon, It surely is a critical hit as she is having advantage in type—but it seems that the attack doesn't do that much damage to the dinosaur-like digimon, thanks to the card…

Another attack is made again–then in the same time, the dinosaur-like digimon also attacked with a very-very-very huge flame that spread across the Ring. Birdramon could try to dodge, but the ring's mid-air area is limited and the flames reaches up to its maximum height—which made this attack practically undodgeable.

From that attack alone, Birdramon took almost half of her health.

"W-w-waaa! B-Birdramon! A-are you alright?!" Kotori asked.

"This is bad, he is too powerful…" Birdramon said.

"D-do you think we should just surrender?" Kotori asked.

"Let me try once again and if I can't do it, just sound the red-alarm!" Birdramon replied.

"O..Ok!" Kotori replied nervously.

Birdramon tried to move a little farther and charged her power before she blasted her fire—but it once again caused too little damage on Dark Tyrannomon. The Dinosaur once again charged his power, but before he was able to unleash it,

"Kotori-chan!" Birdramon shouted.

Kotori quickly sounded Red Alarm— it was apparently a sign that she is surrendering…

The Dinosaur Digimon stopped, then he calmed himself down.

"Ooooo! Looks like our Birdy is surrendering! That's too bad!" the announcer said.

"Man..that Dark Tyrannomon is crazy!" said an audience next to Honoka and Umi. The two quickly turn to them as they listened to their conversation.

"What do you expect? He was supported with a Gold-card!" the other audience said.

"Nah—it wasn't it… it just feels like that Dark Tyrannomon could evolve to an Ultimate Digimon if he wants to…"

"Right… Man…. That's annoying, even though he is powerful enough to be a mega, he can't be disqualified because he didn't break the champion tournament rule. As long as they're not evolving to an ultimate and above Digimon, they are fine to go…"

"Why would people want to enter champion tournament a lot of times anyway…."

"To get the prize perhaps? Too weak to compete in the higher level?"

"You know Rank Tournament isn't giving you much prize but certificate to compete in higher rank?"

"You're right dude, he could've done another tournament right now… now I wonder why that person joined?"

Honoka and Umi turn their sight back to each other.

"Hmm..so this tournament is for a certificate to join the higher rank…" Umi said.

"Yeah, I guess Kotori-chan wants to participate on the next rank…What's the benefit though?" Honoka said.

Umi shrugged, she was about to say something but…

"You don't know?!" a high pitched and somewhat annoyingly cute voice said so loudly,

Honoka and Umi turned themselves around to see a black haired little girl, with black glasses and mask…

"Are you two living in a damned cave!? The higher your rank, the more money you get! Damn real money, I tell you! Also, people will acknowledge you as high class tamer, you get to join an elite club—and you will get so much benefit from it!"

"R-r-real….M-money? Elite Club?" Honoka raises her eyebrows.

"W-where do they get them from….I've never heard game could get you money…"

"Sheesh, for real?" the little girl sighed,

"Digimon Online is funded by thousands of millionaires around the world. Getting money is not a big deal for them. Besides, the Digimon game itself gives them so much income. You are paying 500 Yen for standard Tournament Entry, 1000 yen for Rank Tournament, 5000 Yen for Special Tournament, and 8000 yen for the Beauty Contest!" she explained.

"W-wow…. 8000 yen? Is the prize worth it?" Umi asked.

"The higher the rank, the higher the prize... The lowest rank of beauty contest winner will get about 100000 yen, 50000 yen for the second and 25000 for the third. Your Digimon will also get a damn lot of food and enhancer!"

"Enhancer….?" Honoka and Umi asked.

"God! You don't know what an Enhancer is?!" the girl angrily said.

"…It's what every tamer loves! Other than training, Enhancer is also important for their status! It's not easy to get them you know?! Only a tamer with Superior Rank Digimon can purchase them…!"

"Superior…rank? How many times can a Digimon evolve…?" Umi asked.

"Heh—superior isn't really their evolution rank... heck, you don't call it as evolution rank, it's more like evolution level. There are levels like baby, in-training, rookie, champion, ultimate, mega and Super Mega. Each Digimon has their own cap level and also their own way to evolve. Some digimon require fusion, some are not, some also need to use an item or be in specific places…but anyway! Superior means that this Digimon has passed through the Mega Tournament, Super Digimon Tournament, won in 100 Tournaments or more, then joined the Superior Tournament and win!" the little girl explained again.

"W…wow…it must be tough to get through all that…" Umi said.

"It is! But it's not impossible, in fact, a lot of people have made it to that. After you become a Superior Digimon tamer, you will be allowed to enter the deepest part of the Digital World—you can do everything there and I also heard that you can mine some real diamonds. You'll be super rich and you won't even need to worry about living expense anymore! But on the side note, once you're in the deepest, you won't be guaranteed with any official back up data. If your Digimon died there—then they won't be able to be saved by the official. A lot of tamers have gone bankrupt because of that…"

Honoka and Umi cringed,

"T-that sounds scary…." Honoka said.

"Yup…I also heard, there used to be Superior Digimon Tamers group who decided to get inside the deepest… there were about twenty of them, but only three managed to return with their Digimon safely—which means, the rest of the tamers lost their Digimon forever…"

"S-S-Scary!" Honoka said.

"They can either quit or purchase a new Digimon Capture Program…" the girl said.

"Wait…they didn't get compensation or anything?" Umi asked.

"Well…as what I've told you… enter at your own risk…so nope…"

"Is this Digimon Capture Program a one-time usage?" Honoka asked.

"Yeah, and… you only have one Program slot in your Digivice—which means, you can only keep the Digimon that you get from one Digimon Capture Program. Some Lucky ass could get two perfect grade Digimon, or let's say, a pair of 5 stars Digimon… some could get three and some could get four…! Heck, getting double 5 stars digimon chance is like 0,0000001%...it's a crazy luck to have more than that!"

"W-wow…ok…" Umi replied.

"How does the Digimon Capture works anyway?" Honoka asked.

"Heh—curious aren't you? Well… that's your own job to figure it out… just go to the lobby and use your new-comers ticket…! You got them, right?"

Honoka and Umi nodded,

"Good, you can contact me again after you got your own Digimon… my name is Niko Yazawa—a very talented Tamer I tell you! Add me to your friend list once you get your Digivice, ok?" the girl said.

"Ok!" Honoka replied cheerfully.

* * *

Meanwhile, The Digital Station of Digital World….

"Maki-chan-Maki-chan!" An orange haired girl said,

"What is it now, Rin?" A red haired girl replied.

"Hehe, are you going to upgrade to premium account-nya?" Rin asked.

"Well…I'm not sure… what's the benefit…?"

"Well, you will get to pick an exclusive Digimon—Lunamon! Also, you get a starter pack which includes 10 Miracle Fruits, 4 Enhancement Drive, Recovery items, A pack of card, A pack of golden card, and 20 Miracle Meats-nya!"

"Huh…well…that sound good. Maybe I'll get a premium account after all…." Maki replied.

"E-Everyonee!" A high pitched timid girl voice heard from a distance. Maki and Rin turn themselves around,

"Oo! Kayo-chin!" Rin greeted a short brown haired girl,

"Ah…Hanayo….how was—…."

Before Maki were able to finish her word—she saw the timid girl trying to run to approach them, but instead, bumped into a very tall humanoid yellow fox-like Digimon who was walking so quickly.

"A-aa!" Maki and Rin gasped,

"I—I'm sorry!" Hanayo said in a worry, then when her eyes opened, she could see a trophy is broken on the floor. She was about to say something but…

"No…I'm sorry, are you alright?" the fox-like Digimon asked gently as she helped her to get up.

Hanayo began to feel nervous—she is sure that she is to blame for that tragedy…

Maki and Rin came up to them and stopped,

"Are you ok-nya?" Rin asked.

Hanayo still quiet, her eyes still focused on the broken trophy. Maki noticed it,

"Oh…that looks bad…" she said.

"It's fine… my tamer won't see this…" the Fox-like Digimon picks up her trophy pieces back, she looks somewhat disappointed…

"Uh…are you bad with your tamer-nya?" Rin asked.

"O-oi! Rin! That's too personal!" Maki replied.

"Am I bad with her…? Hmm… no…not quite…I know where her thinking comes from…but…." The Fox-like Digimon paused…

"…Ah—sorry, I'm blurting out… Excuse me for wasting your time…" she continued before she bowed gently and left in a hurry.

"What a strange Digimon…" Maki said.

"Hmm… that's called Renamon-nya! She looks sooo much bigger than her common sizes…. Her tamer must be a lucky person-nya!" Rin said,

"Huh…? Ok…." Maki replied.

"A-Anyway!" Hanayo said,

"Yes- Kayo-chin?" Rin asked.

"W-We got our turn to get our Digivice and Digimon soon! Let's go!" Hanayo said.

"Oh—But Maki-chan wants to upgrade to a premium account-nya!" Rin said.

"W-We can do that in the lobby too! So let's go!"

The three started to run to the lobby.

* * *

In a medium sized room,

Decorated by a lot of Exotic Oriental items, simple yet classy bed, a camera on tripod facing to a single comfortable chair, an incense with Cherry Blossom scent burnt in the corner of the room, a single dining table with a lot of uncommon fruits that are said to only grow in Digital world, a few amazing slices of sirloin on the plate and a study desk complete with its chair, garbage can and bookcases filled with a lot of thick books. A yoga mat is folded next to it, and a professional treadmill on the further end of the room, then a display rack placed on the other corner—it looked big and expensive but it's empty…

The tall yellow fox-like Digimon enters the room, still carrying broken trophy fragments in her arms.

Suddenly, the camera on the tripod rings in a notification—a video call is coming…

Quickly, the tall yellow fox-like Digimon throws all the broken trophy fragments to the trash can—then sat on the single chair before she accepted the call.

"H-Hello?"

"Renamon… are you doing something bad again?" A mischievous looking girl with purple hair said from the screen. She has a light blue digivice attached on her head…

"N-No!" Renamon replied.

"There-there…I'm just teasing you… I know you were just picking up your prize…" the girl said.

Renamon nodded embarrassedly.

"No need to be embarrassed. Honestly, I appreciate your good intention…" the girl said.

The fox-like digimon nodded again.

"Are you thinking about what she feels about you now?" the girl asked.

Once again, Renamon nodded.

"It's not hate… that's all I can tell you…"

"Disappointment?" Renamon asked.

The purplenette giggled,

"You're starting to look like her now! But hey, she didn't tell you about how she feels, right? So you can't guess…"

"Say though, Nozomi…." Renamon pauses again…

"Hmm…?" the purplenette tilt her head slightly.

"….is she ok now? Do I….hurt her that much…?"

"Well, you've certainly done something bold, registering yourself with her name in the tournament, fighting without her knowing, then winning in her name too… if you're to be in our world, you can be sued with copyright infringement…."

Renamon sulked when she heard it.

"I'm joking… I believe she is proud of you in a way… I mean…look, look at your dining table… she set those food up for you so that you can celebrate your victory with your trophy… hmm...where's your trophy?"

"Ah—that… well…." Renamon glanced to her trashcan,

"Did you…break it….?" the purplenette asked with her playful smile.

"I…it's just an accident!" Renamon said.

"Sheesh—she might be angry about that too… so I guess you can let that stay at wherever you keep it…I'm won't tell her…don't worry…"

"Thank you…Nozomi…." Renamon replied sadly.

Nozomi giggled to her,

"Ok—once again, congratulations on your Tournament Victory, Renamon. Let's grow up some more!" she said.

"W-wait! Nozomi…" Renamon said in a haste before Nozomi is was able to cut off the connection,

"What is it?" Nozomi asked.

"Uh…C…can I…. look into….you know… things that are supposed to be in that display rack?"

"Ohh! You want to see her undergarment collection?"

"Huh? What?" Renamon flustered.

"Joking, she doesn't have anything like that there…but I know what you mean–prepare yourself to see some shiny stuff!" Nozomi typed something on her keyboard, then within a minute more than a hundred trophies are neatly set on the display.

Renamon's jaw dropped…

Compared to the trophies on display—her trophy is surely worth nothing more than some fragment of garbage…

She carefully examined every little bit of the details, all the trophies are surely super sparkling and it's so scary that she even saw trophies of tournaments that she never expected to be won by someone like her But, from there, she is more convinced that her trainer is not a mere trainer— she is someone to be respected and someone who, indeed, has some skill worth showing off.

There's also an S-Rank beauty contest trophy, that was something she never had interest on—but seeing that it was won by the Digimon her tamer owned before… and also to know that the Digimon was her species too…

It makes her curious of how the Digimon before her was raised…

Such a perfect Digimon…

It's looked so perfect and it became painful for her…

She really wanted herself to be like the Digimon that was raised before…

But….

"It's enough now, Nozomi…thank you….for showing me…" Renamon said.

"You're welcome… I hope you're not jealous…" Nozomi replied as she makes all the trophies disappear from her room again…

Renamon remained silent. Nozomi gave her a faint smile before she said…

"Ah well…you were asking for it… but anyhow, I'll be off now… need to finish a few council duties then I'll Log In to Digimon Online… have fun with your feast!"

The connection cut off.

Renamon still remained silent. She set her eyes to the food on the table, then to the display rack a few more times before she stood up and quickly picked up her trophy fragments. She placed them on her dining table …

"Hmm..ok…so how do we fix this thing…?" she mumbled to herself,

Not even an idea coming up, she decided to give up for now…

"I'll do this later… maybe I should just eat my food…" Renamon said before she pulled the fruit and meat closer and began to eat.

"T-this is delicious! Amazing!" she said to herself before she continued to eat cheerfully.

* * *

 **That's all! Is this interesting enough? lol.**


	2. Ch2 : Dash!

**Thanks for reviews/comment/faves/follows!**

 **Also thank again to LightRiver33 for the edits!**

 **I hope you're still able to keep up with the fiction!**

 **Remember, if you happen to not able to imagine the Digimon, google is your best friend!**

* * *

Digital World—The Beginning Ground;

The ground is covered with green grass and a lot of jelly-like Digimon of different species were wandering around the area. While accompanied by one official staff, Honoka and Umi browse the Digimons around them.

"….this is the Beginning Ground, a place where many Digi Eggs are created. As you can see, we have a lot of baby-level Digimon here—it is suggested to take care of Digimon from infancy as they're much easier to be bond with… that's why, we created Digimon Capture program to fit only baby Digimon…"

"Ahh…does everyone start from these too?" Honoka asked.

"Yes… every players started from having these baby Digimon…but worry not—it will be quick to reach Rookie level after you leave this Ground, especially, if you have a friend who will help you with hunting…"

"Say, is it true that it's fine to kill Digimon outside?" Umi asked.

"They're wild Digimons that belongs to Nature, killing or being killed isn't our business. It is the Nature that decides. But as for players, as long as you're traveling within our reach, your Digimon data will be safely recorded and stored in our data bank. We're giving free Back Up Data if your Digimon accidentally gets killed…and if your backed-up Digimon Data is corrupted, we will compensate it...but that has not been an issue lately. We've do over a thousand upgrades within a year…"

"What do the Digimon say about this…?" Umi asked

"They don't care about the wild Digimon—the goal of this game is to help Digital world create more cultured Digimon than wild ones…."

"What if one day this game is overloaded and all?" Honoka asked.

"There are about 800 servers in Digital World— it may take about 400 years to reach the desired population…and that is if people stop risking themselves to go into the deepest part of Digital World: The Junk-Files City…"

"O..Oh…ok…."

"So, have you two decided on what Digimon you two are after?" the staff asked.

"Yes, I do…I want a Penguinmon that can evolve into Garurumon…" Umi said.

"Evolving them is not our job, it's your job… but we have a guide that you could use to find that…"

"Ok, that works too." Umi said.

"How do we use the Digimon Capture, though?" Honoka asked.

"All you two need to do is to scan as many of the same type baby Digimon as you can then return to us. We will make the scanned data into your partner digimon, the more data you get, the bigger your Digimon grade is…please note that you only have an hour after activating it, so make sure you're working as fast as possible. Also note that even if your scan is lower than 100%, we will still make that Digimon as your partner…"

"Ooh….ok! Then I'll go ahead!" Honoka said before she ran off.

"W-wait! Honoka!" Umi chased her.

The staff is dumbfounded by their quick action …

"I guess everyone hates long explanations…I guess we will have to change this system soon…"

* * *

Meanwhile, in the lobby…

Kotori and Biyomon are waiting for Honoka and Umi to get their own Digimon. They decided to spend their time sketching some fashion designs in their sketch book.

"Biyomon thinks Honoka-chan will look better if she wears a black Digivice with orange lines." Biyomon said.

"Hehe I think so too! Hmm… what else we can do here…" Kotori tried to think as she looked at the drawing—it's Honoka wearing a Grey Jacket with brown sleeves, yellow gloves, green waist bag and black tight stockings under the brown leather trousers.

"Biyomon thinks we should just work on getting these materials first—it will be pretty expensive so we may want to level up and get more money!" Biyomon said.

"Ahaha…you're right! Our profits at such a low level won't really catch up, especially with the changing Digivice materials." Kotori said.

"Did I hear someone needs to level up?" an unfamiliar voice. Kotori and Biyomon looked around and their search ended as soon they both saw a purple haired girl with two similar Dog-like Digimons behind her. They looked pretty big for their species.

"W-whoa! T-two Salamons! H-How lucky!" Kotori said.

"Now-now, instead of appreciating my luck… why don't you hire me to help you with leveling?" the purplenette said.

"H-Hire…?" Kotori was flustered.

"Hmm…I guess you're not familiar with this business… but here, let me tell you. You did know that the system here is that, as long as you're in a party, you will still get experiences? It's like watch and learn…"

"Uh…yes, I'm aware of that…" Kotori replied.

"Yup, so you just need to be in a party with me—then sit on the side and watch my Digimons kill some monsters." she replied.

"Kotori-chan, this isn't going to be free. I've heard a few players are offering these services!" Biyomon whispered.

"I'm about to pay for that…?!" Kotori exclaimed.

"Yup, it's not that much, really. Think of it as your investment. I'm taking you to very decent places to get experiences. You level up then you will be able to do things yourself sooner—and perhaps open the same business?"

"Uh...No thanks…I think I rather level up on my own—it might be slower but I'll get plenty of tamer experience…" Kotori replied.

"Ahh—you're after your tamer experience, huh? Then, I have another service that you can consider using. It's a support service. You and Your Digimon go after some monsters—poke them in the eyes or anywhere interesting, run away and my digimons will take care of the mess for you while also healing your digimon from any sort of wounds. You don't even need to worry about using any items since that will be on me…also, my Digimon could do a revive to save your Back-Up Disk fees if you happen to screw up in your attempt."

"T-that sounds interesting…" Kotori said.

"K-Kotori-chan! I have a bad feeling about this!" Biyomon said.

"How much is that service?" Kotori asked her anyway.

"Hmm...What about… Five thousand yen per hour?" the purplenette replied.

"F-F-Five thousand yen?!" Kotori and Biyomon exclaimed.

"It will only take you about 8 hours in total to evolve from champion to ultimate… how fast is that? It will be worth it to pay 40000 yen."

"N—No thanks!" Kotori said.

"Hmm…alright, that's too bad. But, if you happen to have some friends who want to join, I don't mind. The price should be the same since I don't charge for the amount of Digimon—though it might take a little slower to reach the desired level…" the purplenette said.

"O…Ok?" Kotori replied.

"Add me to your Digivice contact. My name is Nozomi Toujou, Ultimate-rank tamers with two Salamons," she said.

"A-Alright…" Kotori replied again as she accepted the contact information and added it to her Digivice.

"I'll be waiting, ok? Have fun!" Nozomi said before she left the ash brunette with her Digimon.

"Uhh….are you really interested, Kotori-chan?" Biyomon asked.

"Uhm…I'm not sure myself, it may come in handy—but hehe… at least she is now in my contact list, we can try to check on her Digimon Status…"

"Ooh—right, let's do that…!" Biyomon said.

Kotori clicked something in her digivice— a holographic screen appeared, and she decided to check on her contact list.

 _Name : Nozomi Toujou,_

 _Rank : Ultimate_

 _Tamer Level : 71_

 _Digimon : Salamon (Lv. 62 / 210%), Salamon (Lv. 62 / 208%)_

"B-bo-both are 5 stars?!" Biyomon exclaimed.

"Lucky!" Kotori said.

They continued to look further …

 _Job : Student_

 _Profession : Lv. 36 Merchant, Lv. 55 Card Dealer_

 _In GameSpouse : Eli Ayase_

 _Biography :_

 _S – Fast Leveling Service 8k/ hour, S – Support Service 5k / hour, S – Enchantment Drive, any stats, 50k Nego OK! S- Back Up Disk, 10k, Nego OK! S – Card, Visit me! B – Digicore A , I buy in bulk! PM!_

"Aah! I should've asked her about the card, there might be something we need!" Kotori said.

"Chun! That's not allowed, Kotori-chan! I thought you promised to not buy any card again until we got to Ultimate Rank!"

"But we almost ran out of stock, thanks to the one time usage card…"

"Maybe we should just save up and get a gold card instead of wasting it to buy one time usage cards?"

"You're right, Biyomon… uhhhh…..sheesh...Early game is such a pain..." Kotori said.

Right after she said it, three girls pass in front of her. One of them has red hair, the other one with short brown hair, and the last one with short orange hair...

The three are walking to the counter.

"We're here to pick up our Digimon-nya...!" said the orange haired one.

"Ok, please insert your persona data..." the staff said as she handed three tablets to them.

The three girls inserted their personal data then, at the same time, they summoned each of their Digimon.

The Orange haired one summoned a blue-dog-like digimon with red boxing gloves, the brown haired one with a pink flower-bud like digimon, while the redhaired one summoned...

"L-Lunamon?!" Kotori exclaimed as she could see a cute looking rabbit-like digimon.

"Ahh...I've never seen her this close with my own eyes before!" she continued.

"Yeah, Biyomon too! They're always among the elite even though they're not that superior in battle..."

As Biyomon said it, the rabbit-like Digimon swiftly glanced at her...

"What did you just say?!" Lunamon yelled.

"E-Ehh?!" Biyomon and Kotori raised their eyebrow, not expecting their conversation to be heard. The rabbit-like Digimon approach them angrily.

"I challenge you to a duel—right now!" she said.

"H-hey... you haven't even talked to me!" the red haired girl said.

"Sh-Shut up! Just challenge these losers to a duel—right now!" Lunamon yelled at the red haired girl.

"Oo! Maki-chan! Lunamon really does resemble you-nya!" the orange haired girl said.

"H-huh? Don't be ridiculous, we just started and you're not even level 2!"

"Challenge tthhhheeeemm!"

"A-alright...alright...how are we going to do that?" the red haired asked to the orange haired girl,

"Just wear your digivice and send the request-nya..." she replied.

"Hehe... I guess it's good to have an early experience..." the brown haired girl said.

Just like what was told, the red haired girl threw a duel challenge to Kotori.

"W-what should we do...Biyomon?" Kotori whispered.

"I-I'll take it easy..." Biyomon replied.

"Ok..." Kotori sighed as she accepted the challenge. Biyomon jumped off her seat and stood a little closer to Lunamon...

"Hyaaaa!" Lunamon started to attack—but it didn't seem to do that much damage to Biyomon...

"W-wow..." the red haired girl smirked.

"The level differences must be too high-nya..." the orange haired girl said.

The brown haired girl giggled before she approached the ash brunette.

"Let me add you..." she whispered.

"Eh...? Uh...ok..." Kotori replied.

They added each other... The brown haired quickly check on the ash Brunette's profile.

 _Name : Kotori Minami_

 _Rank : Champion_

 _Tamer Level : 45_

 _Digimon : Biyomon ( Lv. 40/198%)_

 _Job : Student_

 _Profession : Lv. 70 Fashion Supplier, Lv. 10 Merchant_

 _InGameSpouse : -_

 _Biography :_

 _I'm taking requests, 3k each piece for design only! 25k for making it! ( ' 8 ' ). PM!_

Then as for the brunette girl's profile...

 _Name : Hanayo Koizumi_

 _Rank : Beginner_

 _Tamer Level : 10_

 _Digimon : Lalamon ( Lv. 12/180%)_

 _Job : Student_

 _Profession : Lv. 80 Digi-herb Farmer, Lv. 2 Merchant_

 _InGameSpouse : -_

 _Biography :_

 _Hello! I'm new! Please take care of me!_

"I-I guess I'm not the only one who gets addicted to the profession more than the adventure itself..." Kotori said.

"Ahaha..I can't deny, the rice farm simulation is too realistic and I can even sell it for real and feed it to my Digimon..." the brunette girl said.

"Hehe—that's a handful, though!"

"It is! Hehe!"

As they chatted, Biyomon is still stuck with the angry Lunamon...she didn't even do anything else than stand there and watch her punching—or more like poking her...

"Hey...just give up already..." the red haired girl said.

"Don't worry, Maki-chan... this is just a sign that you're a fitting tamer for her-nya!"

"Sh-Shut up...Rin... heh—you're saying it like Digimon and its tamer has to be similar... I mean, I don't think you and your Gaomon are—..."

Maki paused. She couldn't find her Gaomon.

"H-hey...where is he?!" she said loudly as she started to look around.

"Riiin! I found a fitting foe! Let's duel!" shouted Gaomon from distance. He is now air boxing in front of a very tall Renamon—that looked somewhat faimilar for Maki...

"Ok-nya! Let's go!" Rin ran to where Gaomon is—then immediately threw a duel challenge to Renamon.

"W-wh-wait... I'm here to wait for my tamer..." Renamon said gently,

"It's ok-nya! We're about to help you spend your time..."

"I-I don't have enough time for a duel!"

And instead of stopping, Rin spams the challenger...

Maki sighed and decided to approach Rin—hitting her on her head and pull her away.

"W-whoa! Rin! Are we going to play something else?" Gaomon said as she ran to follow Maki and Rin.

* * *

The Beginning ground,

While Umi started gathering data, Honoka is still confused about what Digimon she truly wanted...

There's a long list of Digimons available in her guide book—or more like the Digimon that can be raised. Each of them started from a specific baby Digimon. There are also styles of raising and everything else that she need to understand, explained in very good detail and pictures.

There's also a tip about how to choose Digimon—but Honoka is still confused about what it means. First of all, she couldn't understand the sentence that says:

 _You might choose who you're going to scan, but you didn't choose them—The Digimon chooses you._

So who exactly going to choose? Then what does that exactly mean?

Then the second sentence says:

 _Whoever becomes your choice, they will grow just like you._

Does that mean... they will turn into her or something?

 _What you are doesn't matter—where your heart at is what matters..._

Is this even related to choosing a Digimon?

 _Remember, you're not choosing what's best—instead, you're choosing what's perfect._

So...what does this mean again?

After taking so much time to think—Honoka decided to close her guide book and move on to what she was supposed to do in the first place: Scanning...

She attached the USB on her Digivice and a notification that Digimon Capture Program has started appeared. She look around and at the first sight, she could see a black bouncy thing nearby. Wondering what it might be, Honoka approached it and curiously look closer...

Surprised—the black bouncy thing began to run..

"W-whoaa! Waitt!" Honoka said as she ran to catch up with it.

Without her realizing, her Digimon Capture has scanned about 10% data from it.

She keeps running until she stumbled into a rock—it was so random and she didn't expect to see such a small thing could make her fall.

As she raised her body back up, her eyes immediately focused on how the black bouncy creature was looking at her with its yellow dot eyes. Then it ran away when it realized that Honoka is ready to run again.

"W-Wait for mee!" Honoka shouted while running to it.

Soon, she also realized that she could see a lot of black bouncy things jumping around her. It's like she was dragged to their lair or something like it.

Her Digimon capture made quick progress from its encountering with it—still without her knowledge...

At the time the bouncy creature stopped, it was cornered by a cliff.

"Haah—finally..." Honoka said.

"Errh... so...why were you running?" she asked.

Her question was left unanswered, the bouncy little black creature shivered in fear instead...

"D-Don't be scared...I was just wondering why?"

The little creature stopped shivering—peeking to the ginger haired girl shyly.

"Hehe...it's really ok! I won't hurt you!"

Honoka said with her big smile.

The creature finally looked at her, but it still looked scared.

"Hehe...come here!" Honoka tried to reach it—not expecting it to try to defend itself, Honoka received a swift head-butt. It didn't hurt, but it was enough to lose her balance.

She fell on her back—the creature escaped and she received a notification that the Digimon Capture session has ended.

"W-whoa?! I didn't even use it yet!"

Then soon after—she could see a light blue circle under her, which brought her back to the lobby.

* * *

The Digital world , Lobby;

"Aah! Honoka-chan! You're finally back!" Kotori said.

Umi stood next to her with her Digivice still on and a USB that she has already prepared.

"I think I managed to gather about at least 200% above for my desired Digimon, it's pretty hard to find the same species—I guess this is why it requires luck..." Umi said.

"Hehe, remember though, the scanned data isn't always 10% from each digimon. Sometimes it has some broken data and gives you lesser amount..." Kotori said.

"Ah—ok, how do we know exactly how much is my gathered data?" Umi asked.

"You can check it in your digivice, just wear your goggle with the USB attached...but again, that the current data isn't your final result—some might be broken!"

"What kind of luck can we get from this?" Honoka asked.

"Hmm...some people can find twin data, triplets data or something like that—there's also duplicate data which mean you get double amount of data from one Digimon..."

"Twin data and Triplets data? Does that mean they can have two digimon or something?" Umi asked.

"Yep! Hehe! I actually saw someone with two Salamon before! Both are 5 stars too! That's really sick luck!"

"Ah—I can't wait to see mine, I wonder how it will be..." Umi said.

The staff approached them,

"I have received the letter that you two have finished using the Digimon Capture Program, may I have the USB so I can proceed with converting it into your Digimon partner?"

Honoka is troubled—she wonders if it's ok to tell them that she hasn't used it yet. Alas, registering was quite expensive and if Umi finds out, she might get angry at her for wasting her money because she was clumsy.

"Sure! Here you go..." Umi handed her USB to the staff.

"And yours please..." the staff asked.

With Umi and Kotori looking at her, she feels like she has no choice but to hand her USB.

"Thank you, please wait for us to process your data..." the staff replied before leaving the lobby through a portal.

"So, who are you getting? Umi-chan?"

"Hmm, I was gathering this...red bouncy thing—Punimon?"

"Ah—yeah... are you decided on getting Gabumon instead?"

"Hmm...not quite, I'm still thinking of getting Penguinmon, but... here in the guide says...all in-training digimon have a chance to evolve into Penguinmon—the only thing we need to do is to keep it in a cold place, which means I have to purchase a room that has a cold temperature. Also... I may also want to feed it with digital fishes to increase the chance..."

"aah—I see...so you were getting Punimon because it can evolve into Gabumon in case you failed to evolve it to Penguinmon?"

"Yes. That's pretty much my plan... after all, I'm after Garurumon...so it doesn't matter who I got in rookie..."

"Hehe, ok then! What about you, Honoka-chan? Do you have any idea of who you're picking?"

"Uh...Honestly—I don't know… So it was kind of random for me?" Honoka replied.

"Oh—so you're just going with what fate tells you? Hehe, alright..."

"Say though, do Umi-chan and Kotori-chan understand what the guide says about picking Digimon?"

"That one? Well, it basically tells you to pick anyone that interests you. You might choose them, but the Digimon itself will evolve according to how you treat it. It's similar to how life works, honestly. You pick what interests you and it will grow just like how you treat it. Some people regret their decision, some are happy—sometimes you envy others because they make the perfect decision, and sometimes you just feel like you've got the right decision..."

"Ahh! So that was it!" Honoka said loudly.

"Who did you decided to scan though?" Kotori asked.

The ginger haired girl would like to be honest right now—but with the bluenette next to her...

She could be really angry if she says 'I have no idea how to scan in the first place–put aside scanning'.

Perhaps she should just say the characteristic of the first Digimon she encountered?

"Uh...that black bouncy thing with yellow eyes..." she said.

"Ohh! Botamon!" Kotori said.

"I read that that one ispopular with guys... like, almost every single man chooses him..."

"Oh...? Why?" Honoka asked.

"Hehe, because he can evolve into so many Digimon—the most popular one was War Greymon or Black War Greymon. They're very good in battle, just like what their name says..." Kotori said.

"What makes them good in battle?" Umi asked.

"Hmm... they have this Tornado skill that could penetrate through any sort of defense. It takes a lot of energy—but it surely could break any Digimon. The fact that War Greymon is Vaccine and Black War Greymon is Virus also makes things better since that means, Reverse evolution card will do the trick to beat any type of foe.."

"Doesn't that mean that they're pretty dangerous as a foe? I mean, what if they kill a Digimon?"

"Digimon can't be killed in Tournament because each Digimon that registered in tournament are protected by an official program... unless someone used a cheat—which I heard happened about few months ago..."

"Someone used a cheat? What kind of cheat?" Honoka asked.

"Hmmm...I'm not sure myself, I heard the cheat was from an illegal card—or people call it hacked card..." Kotori said.

"So you were saying that there was a Digimon that died in the Tournament?" Umi tried to confirm the information.

"Yes, the official was surprised too. They already gave a compensation gift to the tamer who owned the dead Digimon and banned the tamer who cheated forever. His Digimon was also released to the wild..."

"How does anyone have a hacked card to begin with and what for?" Honoka asked.

"Hmm...I'm not sure too—but I heard hacked cards are only running around the black market which is said to only be accessible to the Elite Group...so the official completely had no idea about it. Then, as for the usage, I don't know too. But I heard a gossip that tamers in high rank are using it to train their Digimon..." Kotori explained.

"Ah—I see... this is still a game after all...people still likes to try so hard to find shortcuts to win." Umi said.

Soon after Umi's statement, the staff returned with two packs of cards and a pile of disks. Honoka and Umi don't know what those might be but they decided to remain quiet and listen to whatever information was going to be given...

"Thank you for your patience, we've successfully converted each of your Digimon. Apparently, none of you received special data—but both of you managed to create a 4 stars Digimon. To be specific, a 178% Punimon and 200% Botamon..."

"200%?! Are you sure that's mine?" Honoka asked.

"Yes, it is yours—you're pretty lucky that most of your data are not broken..."

"200%... and mine is only 178%...I guess that's really lucky of you, Honoka..." Umi said.

"A...ahahaha..." Honoka scratched her head shyly.

"Don't worry Umi-chan, I started from 140%... then used miracle fruits—a lot of them— and finally reached 198%!" Kotori said.

"Oh, you're right, we can still use miracle fruits..." Umi said.

"Indeed— and as a starter, you will receive 5 Miracle Fruits along with these items..." the staff handed them the items.

Those were:

 _A set of cards_

 _A small bulk of starter HP Recovery_

 _A small bulk of starter MP Recovery_

 _A small bulk of Back-Up Disk_

 _A small bulk of Various Disk_

 _A small bulk of EXP-Enhancer_

 _A small bulk of Miracle Fruits_

 _A medium bulk of digi-meat_

"That's all. Your Digimon will be sent along with the map data. Please do not leave the city before you received your Digimon." the staff said.

"Ok!" Honoka replied cheerfully.

"I hope you enjoy the game. Farewell." The staff bowed politely before leaving.

"Hehe, I guess we're free to go now. Should we explore the city a little?" Kotori asked.

"That will be helpful..." Umi said.

"Yeah! Please tell me more!" Honoka said.

"Ok, then we should head to the town's square first. Biyomon should be waiting there..." Kotori said.

"Ah—I just realized that I didn't see Biyomon around... what did she do in the town's square?"

"Hehe...there was just a little thing that happened so she had to take care of that. I couldn't leave here since I'm supposed to wait for you two..." Kotori said.

Umi and Honoka wondered what happened before they returned. They may not have spoken out loud but their faces reveal their curiosity.

* * *

The town's square, Digital World;

"So that's all Biyomon can tell you about the city..." Biyomon ended her explanation.

"T-Thanks... but really, you don't have to do this..." Red haired girl said a little embarrassedly.

"But that was really helpful-nya! We only know as far as what the guide says about this city! We wouldn't know about where we can find the place with the most players who are setting up their shops or where we can find supply item shops which were set by the players!" the Orange-haired girl said.

"Hmm...maybe I should set up my shop in the area where people often shop for food ingredients too? I wonder if Lalamon is ok with that?" the Brown-haired girl said.

"Hehe–if Biyomon to be lalamon, Biyomon would! Even though there are a lot of seller who offer the same thing over there, you will still get customers who are actually looking for it! You just need to undercut their prices!" Biyomon said.

"Ah—you're also pretty knowledgeable about the market!"

"hehe—it's not quite right to do that, though. Sometimes we should remember to keep the price average so that one item doesn't lost too much of its value!"

"Ok!" The brunette girl replied.

A little later, Gaomon and Lalamon returned holding on to Lunamon's hands.

"Rin! Hanayo! Maki! I'm reporting that Lunamon is now fully healed and ready to duel again!" Gaomon said.

"H-Hey! She is not going to duel again!" Maki said.

"Y-yeah, Lunamon... you have to level up first to beat Biyomon..." Hanayo tried to convince her.

"Hmmph! Fine, I'm going to spare her this time!" Lunamon said arrogantly.

"Why are you talking like you are the winning side? Biyomon defeated you with one simple slap..." Maki said to her Digimon.

"I-I wasn't ready!" Lunamon yelled.

"I know-I know... let's just go outside and train some more, ok? Don't try to mess with other Digimon again..." Maki said with a sigh.

"Rin! I'm still in the mood for duel, let's look for a rival again!" Gaomon said.

"Ok-nya! Let's mess with someone-nya!" Rin replied. She was about to run but Hanayo held her back.

"B-B-Before that, Rin-chan...!" the brunette girl said,

"Yeah-nya?" Rin asked,

"You two should add Kotori-senpai, Biyomon's owner. Maybe we can ask for her help again later!"

"Ah, you're right... let me add your owner..." Maki said as she projected her screen from her Digivice.

"Ok! Her name is Kotori Minami! Champion Rank!" Biyomon said with her cheerful voice.

Both Maki and Rin added her in their Digivice.

"Done-nya!" Rin said energetically.

"Thanks again... we should be going now..." Maki said.

"ok!" Biyomon replied before she watched the three tamers walking away with their Digimon. For a moment, she also caught a glimpse of Lunamon sticking out her tongue mockingly at her. Biyomon only replied with a friendly wave and a smile.

About a minute later, Kotori, Honoka and Umi arrived at the place where she waited...

"Biyomon! How was it?" Kotori asked.

"Chun! Kotori-chan! Hehe...it went well! Lunamon is already fully healed from resting in the Inn and Biyomon also took the tamers on a city walk!"

"Oh! I hope you don't mind going for another round!" Kotori said.

"Biyomon doesn't mind! Biyomon is happy to help!" Biyomon said.

"Biyomon, you really have a kind heart like Kotori in a way..." Umi appreciated.

"R-Really?" Biyomon and Kotori replied, their faces blushing.

"Yep, no doubt..." Umi said.

"A-ahaha... there's no way of us to be alike from heart..." Kotori and Biyomon said in the same time,

Then, when they realized it, they quickly tried to change the topic.

"A-anyway! L-l-Let's start from the south!" the two said in the same time.

"Uh...East..." the two said in the same time again.

Umi giggled at them and her voice is enough to make the two blush so bright. While they were in their own scene, Honoka was quiet because she is once again looking at specific person—a tamer wearing a white cape and watching her from the highest tower of the Tournament Hall.

Who is that tamer...?

Why is that tamer waving at her in such a friendly gesture that time?

She is so confused with everything that brought her here and in this state of mind. It's just rare for her to be intrigued by something and she couldn't do anything else but think.

"Honoka..." Umi called.

"E-Eh? What's up, Umi-chan?" Honoka replied—turning her attention at her friend in a slight panic.

"You're quiet. That's really rare of you..." Kotori said.

"Ah..ahaha..I was just thinking of something—that's all!"

"Thinking? What exactly you're thinking?" Kotori asked.

"yes, what made you suddenly think?"

"U-umi-chan! You're saying it like I never think..." Honoka said.

"As a matter-of-fact, you never do. You act first, think later..." Umi said.

"That's cruel of you,Umi-chan!"

"T-There-there..." Kotori said, trying to calm them down. Biyomon giggled as she watched their expressions —with Umi frowning and Honoka puffing her cheeks.

Umi was about to say something else but it was interrupted when a notification arrived in their Digivice.

"Ah—looks like we got our Digimon and Map..." Umi said.

"Yeah..." Honoka replied as the two checked their Digivice.

"Good, this will be much easier to explain!" Kotori said.

"Yup! Chun!" Biyomon said.

"So where we should start?" Umi asked as she and Honoka opened the map on the projected screen of her Digivice.

"Hehe, let's start from the north area of the city...or actually, we should start from the city name... it's called City of Memory...sounds pretty classical, huh?" Kotori started,

"The most important building in the north area is the lobby— you may logged in from any terminal, but you will always have to get yourself to lobby to pick up your Digimon, that's only if you place them in their room, though. If not, you can just summon them through the Digivice."

"Their room? What room?" Umi asked.

"Hehe, should be a bit later. Once you reach level 10, you'll be able to purchase a room from the counter in the lobby. After that, you can purchase the design either from the official or designed by some players as well...!"

"What's the benefit of placing a Digimon in its room?" Honoka asked.

"Well, Biyomon is happier if you place Biyomon in Biyomon's room before logging out! Being inside the Digivice isn't pleasing since there is almost nothing there. Boring place! But in Biyomon's room, Biyomon can train, Biyomon can have some fun, and Biyomon can spend Biyomon's time eating something good!"

"Ah, ok, so it makes our Digimon happier...!" Honoka said.

"Yep! Hehe, then to the east of Lobby, you see the terminal— that's where you log in and out, also where you can visit your Digimon's room..." Kotori continued again.

"Take a note of this though: even though we're placed in our rooms, we may go outside to do something else! But worry not! We will always tell you if we are going out! Also, each of your Digivice has a tracker, which means that you can always find where we've gone off to!"

"Yup! Also, if you're about to sell something, you can always ask your Digimon to sell it for you— you can even tell them where to sell it!" Kotori added.

"Wah—they're very useful..." Umi appreciated.

"Yep! Hehe, Biyomon often goes around to sell Kotori-chan's work while she is logged out! Then go on adventures when she is in!"

"Are you not tired from doing that?" Honoka asked.

"Hehe, don't worry. Biyomon sleeps too! Kotori-chan knows when Biyomon needs sleep!" Biyomon said.

"Yup, it's about 7 PM until 5 AM, right?" Kotori replied.

"Exactly! Hehe!" Biyomon said.

"Does that mean you can't log in while she is asleep?" Umi asked.

"I can log in, but I just can't go on an adventure with Biyomon. Though, if I really want to go on an adventure while she is resting, I can borrow a Digimon from the lobby! But it's not fun to do that since the Digimon from the lobby do not have any bond with you. They work just as our helper and nothing more!" Kotori said.

"Also, to mention that the cap of renting Digimon is your Tamer Rank, which mean, if Kotori-chan is Champion, then she can only borrow from Rookie to Champion!" Biyomon added.

"Ah—I see... I guess their purpose is to prevent unhealthy addiction toward this game. Are every Digimon different?" Umi asked.

"Yep! Hehe! Most Vaccine Digimon are awake in at day time while most Virus Digimon active at night. I can't really say for Data Digimon, they're pretty random!" Biyomon said.

"Do they eat or go...uh.. another thing that humans do?" Honoka asked.

"Yep! We do! We get hungry and we need to answer the call of nature!" Biyomon said.

"That's why selling portable potty is probably what you can do while going on adventures. I always have so much stock in case I meet anyone who needs to help their Digimon!" Kotori said.

"Portable potty? Can't Digimon just do it anywhere?" Honoka asked.

"That's a no-no! Biyomon will hate you if you make Biyomon answer the call of nature at random place! It's so uncomfortable and it makes Digital World Dirty! Biyomon isn't a wild uncultured Digimon!" Biyomon said.

"Hehe. But there are public restrooms in some places—you just have to make sure to reach there before they no longer can hold it!"

"Ah, ok!" Honoka replied.

"Now-now, let's continue about the map, it was north east, right?" Kotori asked. Honoka and Umi resumed looking at the screen that was projected from their Digivice—a screen that showed the map of the city. They were indeed talking about the north east.

"Since we just talked about potty, we should talk about where you can find the public restrooms. There should be about four restrooms in each official building: one is for tamers, three are for the Digimon. As you have already expected, those three are Vaccine, Data, and Virus. As for the lobby, they're in the east side of the building on each floor. Then for the Tournament hall, which you can access from the lobby, there are about four sets of restrooms, North, West, East, and South..." Kotori continued her explanation.

"It is also suggested that you keep your Digimon in rookie level—but if the champion and further form is small enough, it's ok! Just as long as it won't break the restroom's tools!" Biyomon said.

"About the Tournament Hall..." Umi said.

"Yes, what about it?" Kotori asked.

"Do they always hold Tournaments?"

"Yep! Tournaments are held every day and even at night! Only in specific hours though and you can't register on the day of tournament—you have to do it at the day before..."

"Ooo! Having a Tournament everyday, do they always have contestants?" Honoka asked.

"Yup! It's always fully crowded too! It's the only way for some tamers to make money and also for the official to make money. You have to win at least in third place to get prize though..."

"So...you didn't get anything before?" Honoka asked agan.

"Hehe, they give me a few giant digi-meat as thanks for registering in the tournament..." Kotori replied.

"Free food is always good!" Biyomon added.

"Any more question?" Kotori asked.

"Ah, right, someone told us about elite club..." Umi said.

"Oh, about that one? Well... their room is just within the Tournament Hall. I don't really know about what's inside it since I'm not part of them, but gossip says that they have a lot of rare goods and everything you need to make your Digimon stronger."

"Hmm...isn't it weird to have such things in an elite club? I mean... their requirement is to have a strong Digimon, right?

"Yup, but that doesn't mean they are going to stop raising them. In fact, they have to keep practicing so that they don't get kicked out of their rank..." Kotori said,

"W-wait-wait...kicked out of their rank?" Honoka flustered,

"Yup, you may not be able to get kicked out of Rank under Mega, but you can get kicked when you're in S-Rank or in some Elite Club. I heard that S-Rank or Elite tamers get so much pressure from their fellow tamers. Small mistakes such as entering Rookie until Ultimate level tournament while Ranked in S, losing five times in a row from S-Rank tournament or Mega Tournament or get caught abusing their title as S-Rank tamer can give them the boot..."

"T-that sounds bad..." Umi said.

"But...isn't it normal to lose in a tournament? I mean, who's going to win if no one loses?" Honoka asked.

"Well, S-Rank tournament is just a whole different story. Five times in a row is quite pitiful for them, I have watched it twice. All tamers are with mega or higher Digimon, some of them are also actually able to raise their Digimon to become a member of Royal Knights..."

"Royal Knights?" Umi asked.

"Yep, Royal Knights. The Digimons that are said to be the protector of Digital world. They might not be the real Royal Knight, but having them is enough to show that you are a very decent tamer... it doesn't have to be the royal knights though. I mean, the winners of S-Rank are always tamers who are able to master their own Digimon power instead of those who are capable of evolving one Digimon to stronger oneand, not to forget, own a set of great cards and are good at strategizing to achieve their victory."

"I guess that's how the thinking goes, huh?" Umi commented.

"Yup!" Kotori nodded.

"Anyhow, let's keep going shall we?" she said.

Honoka and Umi nodded.

"So next place is the east town—..."

"Wait a minute, why is it 'town' while in fact, this place is called 'City'?" Umi asked.

"Hehe, for that one... well, I guess you have to visit the museum in the east part of the city. To put it simply, this place _was_ a town and locals—or let's say, the Digimons— did not change with how they call it. That's why they are still calling it 'town' even though it's already a city..." Kotori explained.

"Ah...alright..." Umi nodded,

"Well, for the east town, like what I said before, there's the museum and east town's square. The town's square used to be empty but many players sell their digi-food ingredients there now—then there should be some fashion items sold there...and I usually sell my stuff there too!"

"Digi-food ingredients? You don't mean... we can cook in this game?" Honoka asked.

"We can, but I'm not interested on cooking Digi-Food so I've never tried it..." Kotori said.

"Oooo! I _so_ want to try it!" Honoka said.

"Hehe, surely, but remember, it's better if you train your Digimon at least to Rookie and gather ingredients on your own first—then sell what you can sell!"

"Ok! Then I should get to training my Digimon!" Honoka replied before she ran off.

"W-wait! Honoka-chan! We haven't finish with the map!" Kotori shouted. She wasn't able to catch her at all since she didn't even expect her to run off right away.

Umi sighed heavily.

"I guess that's better than her being quiet. It made me worried for a while..." she said.

Kotori smiled wryly,

"Hehe—I suppose you're right. Maybe we should go help her anyway?"

"Sure..."

* * *

The City of Memory's Inn—The A-Rise Headquarter, Digital World;

"Tsubasa... are you, like—very-very-very-very sure about this?" A slender girl with maroon hair, slanted turquoise eyes and a beauty mark under her right eye asked her.

"Yes, Erena—Like, Extremely-Super-Ultra-Mega-Giga-Terra-very-sure about this..." the short haired brunette with green eyes replied.

"You don't know her yet... you might regret this..." Erena warned her again.

"That's what you said when I chose my Black Agumon...and as you can see...I am where I am..." Tsubasa replied.

"That's not even the same thing! I mean...look, it's not about you...what I'm trying to say is… if the other elite find out, they might start to gossip and just imagine the trouble you could cause her..." Erena said.

"Doesn't that make things much more exciting?" Tsubasa replied with a playful wink.

Erena was about to say something again, but...

"Now-now, I think you shouldn't try to stop her anyway. Tsubasa-chan has been stalking her online so now it's really the time for her to reveal herself..." A calm girl with light brown hair said.

"But Anjuu... it wasn't even her first time to meet her..."

"That makes it even better. She is striving for their relationship to happen, so let her go..." Anjuu replied.

Erena sighed heavily.

"Alright..."

Tsubasa giggled at her reaction,

"You're talking like I need permission to do what I want." she said playfully as she cheerfully hops toward the exit.

"I do whatever I like, ok? So… bye!" Tsubasa left the room.

Erena put her palm on her face.

"Sheesh...seriously... when it is about that girl—it's like she's lost all of her senses." she said.

Anjuu giggled at the remark,

"That's what happens when people fall in love, Erena. Just bear with it..."

* * *

 **See you next chapter!**


	3. Ch3 : It's a promise!

**Next Chapter!**

 **I hope you're still interested! I'm sorry about my other fic, but it seems that the editor for that fic is currently unreachable for me. Maybe she is too busy and can't even get herself on internet? idk, but please be patient! I'm sure she will finish it once she got time!**

 **Thanks for reviews/comment/faves/follows!**

* * *

The Digital World;

Honoka and Umi skipped the early stages as suggested by Kotori and, with their friends as their guide, they visited a few places in the Digital World. She took the two newbies to a places where there are plenty of wild flying Virus Digimons— some are resting on the rocks surrounded by grasses, some are hovering in the blue sky above them. Birdramon is flying next to them while Botamon and Punimon were safely secured on their respective tamer's arm.

"Don't stray too far from me, ok? They might not be as aggressive as we think, but it's still dangerous since the leaders are always aggressive—and when you attack the leader, the others might join in..."

"Sounds troublesome..." Honoka commented.

" _That_ they are!" Kotori replied.

"Is it really fine to do this, though? It feels like we're being unfair to the other player who struggled..." Umi said.

"Hehe, it's ok, Umi-chan. It's pretty fair, honestly. You won't believe me but rich players can get their champion Digimon in a day—so yep, you two will reach rookie level today then struggle your way to reach the champion level while helping me practice!"

"Are there any requirements to reach champion level other than practicing them?" Umi asked.

"You have to win the Rookie Rank Tournament to be able to evolve your Digimon to Champion—luckily, the Rookie tournament is held almost every two hours so you don't have to wait for days to join it like the other tournaments!"

"Ah, that's good then?" Umi said.

"But...doesn't that mean we will have to compete withthe rich people?" Honoka asked.

"Yep. Getting to the level where you can evolve your Digimon to champion isn't enough—you have to train them and exceed their level by a bit. Most new player don't know this, so let's just consider this as your advantage... hehe..." Kotori said.

"What about my Penguinmon though? I mean, I should take it to a cold place..."

"Don't worry about that. Just tell me when you reach level 10, Birdramon will carry us all to the city and you two can buy the rooms to keep your Digimon in!"

"W-well, I can buy the room myself...I think..." Umi said shyly.

"It's ok, Umi-chan. Let's just consider that as my welcome gift! Hehe!"

"That's nice of you, Kotori-chan! You always know what we need! Maybe you can get us the decorations as well?" Honoka asked cheerfully.

"Sure, no problem!" Kotori replied.

"H-Honoka! Stop being shameful!" Umi scolded her,

"Hehe—but free stuff is always good, right?" Honoka said.

"I'll give you a free punch on the face—how about that?"

"O-Ok...not always good..."

"Now-now, I'm going to start in a bit—make sure your Digimons are watching, ok?"

"Ok!" Honoka said happily.

* * *

Meanwhile,

"Lunamon! You won't get any experience if you keep attacking monsters that are higher level than you!" Maki scolded.

"But that one is Vaccine! I can probably have taken it down if no one was bothering me!"

"More like—you won't be saved if we weren't there! It took us a long time to kill that monster and we lost so much for so little gain!" Maki scolded again.

Lunamon sulked when she realized that she really _is_ causing so much trouble for everyone. She looked over to the usually energetic Gaomon who is now quiet like a dead body, then to Lalamon, resting next to Hanayo— who tried her best to pace her breathing, then lastly at Rin who sat next to Gaomon.

"M-Maki-chan, easy... we did not lose that much... I think we got some decent amount of experience?" Hanayo said.

"Yeah-nya... but ...honestly though, I'm really tired right now-nya! I think we should all return to the city?" Rin suggested.

"Heh—we only killed one monster and we're returning to the city already... that's a disappointment, but I guess we don't have a choice..." Maki said.

"Let's take it easy from now!" Lunamon said.

"You're still raring to go? We barely have any stock, I don't even have any back up disk anymore _and_ we probably need to restore your data from the official if you die again!" Maki said.

"Please! It will be fine! We won't even need any item!"

"Nah—we can't risk that. Gaomon and Lalamon barely have energy to move too..."

"I—I will do it myself!" Lunamon begged.

"No, we can't!" Maki stated again.

"I don't want to go back before I'm stronger than that Biyomon!"

"You're stubborn and selfish!" Maki yelled.

"I hate you!" Lunamon yelled back.

"I hate you too! Why did I want to pick you anyway?! I should've picked another Digimon that could think of others' feelings!" Maki said.

Lunamon is about to cry but she didn't want her weak face to be seen by everyone around her so she turned around quickly and started to run.

"L-Lunamon!" Hanayo called her.

"Go on! Run! I don't care if you run or anything— you're not going to be any stronger that way!" Maki shouted.

"T-That's harsh, Maki-chan..." Hanayo said.

Maki remained silent. She only smirked bitterly.

Hanayo could no longer let the situation worsen so she decided to run after Lunamon...

"H-Hanayo-chan!" Lalamon quickly tried to catch up with her.

"W-whoa! Kayo-chin! Wait for me-nya!" Rin said as she also tried her best to run after her friends.

Gaomon quickly woke up and began to march to catch up with them as well.

Maki rolled her eyes,

"Even with that, you make people works so much..." she mumbled to herself.

"I guess I'll just catch up anyway..." she continued before running towards them.

* * *

City of Memory, The Bridge to the outskirts—Digital World;

A small girl with black hair was waving her cards set while shouting to the crowd of people who did not seem to care too much about her.

"Fighter Card-set! Magic Card Set! Nice and Cheap! Buy from me and you won't regret it!"

She repeated over and over but it seemed that not many people were interested to browse.

When she finally got tired of shouting, she decided to take a short break and grab her water bottle.

"Hah—I guess these card sets aren't that favored enough..." she said to herself.

Suddenly, a short woman with short light brown hair and green eyes approached her.

"Hey there..." she said.

Niko wasn't aware of who is talking with her right now—but either way, she decided to drink first before turning her attention to the person who just talked to her.

As soon as her eyes focused on the person who just talked to her, she raised her eyebrows in shock and...

"W-W-Wh-what?! K-K-K-Kira Tsubasa...! The-The...The Elite Group A-rise leader?!"

"Did you happen to see this girl pass through here?" Tsubasa asked—ignoring the shock expressed by the little girl. Either way, the little girl took a look at the profile of the person that was projected on Tsubasa's Digivice Screen...

 _Name : Honoka Kousaka_

 _Rank : Beginner_

 _Tamer Level : 5_

 _Digimon : Botamon ( Lv. 6/200%)_

 _Job : Student_

 _Profession : Lv.0 Merchant_

 _InGameSpouse : -_

 _Biography :_

 _Hello! I'm new! Please take care of me!_

The raven haired girl thought the person was familiar and, as she saw the photo right next to the profile, she recalled that she has seen this girl before...

"W-Well, she added me a while back, so I can give her a call if you like..." the little girl said.

"Really? Then, can you just tell me her location? You should be able to find her easy!" Tsubasa looked so happy when she heard it.

"W-Well...of course... hold on a minute.. I need to figure out how to search for a friend's location..." the little girl replied.

"Hover over the name of your contact..." Tsubasa said.

Niko nodded to the command and received an instant result.

"Ah—the Wind Prairie..." Niko said.

"Ok! Thanks!" Tsubasa replied before she ran away.

"You're welcome!" Niko waved to her cheerfully.

It took a moment for her to realize...

That she wasn't able to add her to her contacts list.

Such a wasted encounter. She could've added this famous person in her contacts list before providing the answer to her question...

"God-Damn-it!" she cussed upon her realization.

* * *

The Land Of Dusk;

It's far from as the City—it's not even close to any city or resting depot. The land is barren and the sky always ranged from orange to dark. It may have been quiet but, at times, those who entered could hear wild Digimons scream. They say this is the most haunting place for beginners— which somewhat reveals that they are not the first beginners to get lost in this place...

"Lunamon!" Hanayo shouted. It was obvious on her face that she was worried.

"Lunaamooonn!" Lalamon joined her search.

They keep looking around, but the only things they sees are dried dead trees and mist.

"Sheesh...where did she run off to..." Hanayo said.

"Heh—I believe that she is around here. My Digivice says so..."

"This story's plot is so cheap-nya..." Rin said as she walked behind Hanayo.

"W-what? What story?" Hanayo asked.

"Well, someone is angry and runs off to a dangerous place...then that someone's friends ends up looking for that someone..." Rin replied.

"I can't deny— that one plot is totally what you often read in most adventure stories. Maybe we should expect to see something dramatic to happen..."

"Dying Lunamon?" Gaomon commented.

"N-No...let's not have that sort of thing..." Maki said.

"If that happen, I will come to the rescue..." Gaomon said.

"Gaomon... you're pretty charming for a Digimon..." Hanayo said.

"Really? I don't really think so..." Gaomon replied as he checked himself.

When they continued to move further in, they finally found the Digimon they were looking for, except...

She is now surrounded by Ghost-like Digimons wearing a witch's hat. Lunamon looks exhausted and she might have been injured as well.

"L-Lunamon!" Hanayo said as she ran to get her.

"Wait!" Maki held her.

"She is in trouble-nya! We should help her out!" Rin said.

"I know, but let's observe the situation—we all will be in a deep trouble if we don't... I mean—we are out of stock, remember?" Maki said.

"Uh...Ok...so... what should we do?" Hanayo asked.

"Let's find a way to snatch her and run...but again... we must observe first..." Maki said.

The other two nodded and they swiftly moved to hide behind a nearby tree to watch carefully.

"...you said you're going to report us to the official?" the ghost-like Digimon said.

"Hahaha—we are wild, the official will not touch us even if we kill you right now!" the other Ghost-like Digimon said.

"Most likely, they will lecture you for running away from your tamer—aren't you all supposed to stick around even if you don't like your tamer?" the other wild Digimon added.

"W-well! I will punch you all myself!" Lunamon replied— it's clear that she is currently scared.

The Ghost-like Digimons looks to each other and began to laugh loudly.

"Punch again? Try then! We'd be happy to see you try!"

Lunamon attempted to punch each of them But, instead of actually causing damage, her fists only seemed to meet a floating blanket and her punches just flowed through. It's like she barely hurt them...

And they laughed even harder...

"Th-They are toying her around-nya!" Rin said.

Maki and Hanayo remained silent, their eyes are set on how the Ghost-like Digimon floats around her—it's like, even if they snatch her, they will probably be able to catch up to them somehow.

When Lunamon fell from her attempt to do a power punch again, the brunette girl shook her head. She could not stand still any longer.

"We should do something! This is too painful to watch!" Hanayo said.

"Ok! Gaomon is going!" Gaomon said before he ran to Lunamon.

"G-Gaomon!" Hanayo complained.

"Go-Go-Go-nya!" Rin encouraged.

"H-hey! We don't have any more stock!" Maki complained as well.

"Huh...? Who is this dumb dog?" one of the Ghost-like Digimon said when they saw Gaomon stand in front of the helpless Lunamon.

"Gaomon..." Gaomon replied.

"Yeah—we know you're Gaomon... but who are you to stand in our way?"

Without replying, Gaomon roared and surprisingly pushed back the Ghost-like Digimon.

Then, in only a few seconds, Gaomon picked up Lunamon and escaped to where Maki and the others were.

"H-Hey don't come this way!" Maki said,

It was too late—the Ghost-like Digimon saw them.

"We've been seen! Let's teach them all lesson!" one of the Ghost-like Digimon said.

"Run!" Maki shouted before she began to run along with Rin, Hanayo, Lalamon and followed by Gaomon who's carrying Lunamon.

They believed that they were running back to where they came from, but it felt like they're going through a new path or a wrong direction.

Either way, they just have to keep running for now since those Ghost-like Digimon look really pissed off.

"C-C-Can anybody look at map right now?" Hanayo asked.

"Ok-nya!" Rin replied as she projected a screen from her digivice, she operated it and changed the view into map—but...

"Why is the map is all black-nya?"

"Did you lose your signal or something?" Maki asked.

"Uhhh...Lalamon, please help me look at my digivice!" Hanayo said. Lalamon flew a little faster to reach Hanayo's digivice—operating it for a while before a screen popped out from her digivice as well.

Once again, the map is all black...

"W-what? This can't be... how do we know where we're going if the map is all black?" Hanayo complained.

"Guide book, anybody still have it?" Maki asked.

"I do-nya!" Rin replied.

"Check on page 89, there should be something about special area, right?" Maki asked again.

"Yep... and this should be where we are-nya..." Rin said as she pointed to the photographed image of the similar place.

"Says, The Land of Dusk doesn't have any official map because their map always change randomly but theories from experienced player say that they don't actually change and that it just rotates every 6 hours..."

"6 hours?! We don't even know when this 6 hours began. Could we somehow have strayed in here when this place rotated?" Maki said.

"Probably...?" Hanayo replied.

"Then how we can get outta here?!" Maki shouted in her panic.

"Uh...this is just an idea but...if we let all of our digimon die, we all will be forced to teleport back to the City...after all, the Land of Dusk is still within the official reach, right?" Hanayo said.

"Yeah but that also means our Digimons' experience will decrease again-nya!" Rin said.

"We have no choice...let's just do that..." Maki said before she turned around and stopped.

Hanayo and Rin followed—along with Gaomon and Lalamon. Lunamon was still carried by Gaomonand trying to keep up with what was happening.

The Ghost-like Digimon also stopped in front of them when they noticed that they're all ready to fight again.

"I don't really like this, but I guess it's better than being stuck here forever..." Lalamon said.

"I'm sorry, Lalamon. We will make up for the lost experience somehow..." Hanayo said.

"Gaomon is ready to die first!" Gaomon said after he placed Lunamon behind him.

"Ok! Rin is ready to watch-nya!" Rin replied him.

"H-hey...that sounded wrong, but ok..." Maki commented.

The Ghost-like Digimon don't seem to be moved by their action. Instead, they looked like they're even more pissed off...

"What is this disgusting human-Digimon relationship. Digimon are meant to be free, not cultured..." one of them said.

"Yeah—and let us smite you with that, huh?" said the other.

Maki, Rin, and Hanayo stood in their place, they know what will happen—but there's really no choice. They have to let this happen...

"Don't worry, we will make this quick—hehehe..." the Ghost-like Digimon said as he charged an electric spark, creating a huge ball of dark bolt and as Gaomon planned, Gaomon took the first hit.

He collapsed to the ground and it was followed by a red light that shones on Rin's Digivice, which indicates that her partner Digimon died.

Lalamon stepped forward. She knows well that this is her turn to take the hit. The Ghost-like Digimon laughed in their amusement and they also let anoother Ghost-like digimon's turn to kill her.

The second one used a big shadow claw that appeared out of its blanket arm, which instantly caused Lalamon to fall unconscious like Gaomon.

Hanayo's digivice showed the same red light .

The last one is Lunamonwho remained on the ground as she weakly stared at both of her 'dead' friends.

"Now...let's go back to the city and start over, shall we?" Maki said.

Hanayo and Rin nodded.

"I hope you remember this lesson, Lunamon..." Maki said.

Lunamon nodded. She would say 'ok' if she isn't too weak to speak then.

All the ghost-like Digimon charged dark sparks together and it seems that they wanted to deal the most painful death to Lunamon.

Though, before they were able to cast it, a swarm of furious bats suddenly fell upon those Ghost-Like Digimons like a heavy waterfall. In instant, the Ghost-like Digimon disappeared. along with the furious bats.

Maki, Hanayo, and Rin were surprised.

Were they somehow saved by someone?

They should feel relieved right now but when they turned to see who saved them, what they saw was...

A slender lady-like Digimon with black leather suit, left arm longer than the right one, long sharp claws and black tattered wings, pale skin and furious red eyes, sharp vampiric teeth and a mischievous smile...

"My-my...what do we have here?" she said with her antagonistic voice.

Maki, Rin, and Hanayo didn't know what to say—Alas, what can be worse than this? Perhaps the only wish they have right now is that Digimon can't harm them...

"Letting your Digimon died like that, are you sure you're a tamer?" she said as she approached them—passing through the bodies of Gaomon, Lunamon, and Lalamon.

"We didn't have a choice, ok?" Maki tried to reason.

The Lady-like Digimon didn't look impressed. When she got close to the red haired girl, she operated her Digivice and showed her a button in the 'help' tab—then flipped through a few pages of the ' _Digivice Manual_ ' which ended with a page that shows:

 _Return Button:_

 _A button that can be used once every five minutes. Its purpose is to help tamers return to the city during an emergency._

"That's why, kids... reading is good and you should do that before acting like you're the first generation that require trial and error to learn something new." The Lady-Like Digimon said.

"Those Soulmon aren't even fast enough to catch up if you use that button..." she continued as she crossed her arms.

"S-soulmon... you mean, those Ghost-like Digimon?" Hanayo asked.

The Lady Like Digimon sighed, then she approached Hanayo and pressed a few buttons on her Digivice,

The screens popped up and while Hanayo's eyes were set on the Lady-Like Digimon, data showed up along with a picture of the Lady Like Digimon. It says:

 _Lady Devimon (Lv62 / 210%)_

 _Type : Virus_

 _Attribute : Dark_

 _Owner : Nozomi Toujou_

 _Personality : Brainy_

"O..Oh...that's your...personal information..." Hanayo said.

"Exactly—and if you knew that, you wouldn't wonder what those Digimons are called..." Lady Devimon said.

Rin, Maki, and Hanayo remained silent—they feel bad for not paying attention to those details.

Lady Devimon sighed,

"Ah well— since you kids are new anyway, our tamer is coming here in a bit to help out..."

"Our...?" Hanayo, Rin, and Maki flustered.

"Yes... our tamer..." Lady Devimon replied.

"Is there any other with you here...?" Maki asked.

"Of course... she is Angel...my twin sister." Lady Devimon replied.

"Are you calling me, Lady?" A white slender lady-Like Digimon appeared behind a tree, she has three pairs of angelic wings and a pink ribbon over her shoulder. She has blonde hair and her eyes were covered with a metal mask.

"Angel, please...what are you doing there..."

"The hint is: Flower..." Angel replied.

Lady sighed heavily.

Hanayo tried to operate her digivice to scan the new Digimon, it says:

 _Angewomon (Lv.62 / 208%)_

 _Type : Vaccine_

 _Attribute : Light_

 _Owner : Nozomi Toujou_

 _Personality : Lively_

"How many portable potties are spent in this hunt? This is why I told you to not eat too much in the morning!" Lady complained.

"Nozomi-chan placed so much food in our room—it will be a waste if we didn't eat them all..."

"That doesn't mean you can eat them all at once! You can always keep it there—it won't rot or go missing, trust me!"

"Hehe, I'm sure Nozomi-chan will wonder why though, we always have the bowl empty by morning..."

"It doesn't matter! It's better than you spending over 10 portable potties in one hunt! That's almost all of our stock! What if I suddenly had the urge and you already used them all?"

"We can ask Nozomi-chan for those again or...you know...share the—..."

"No! That's gross, Angel!"

Angel giggled.

"I'm joking, Lady, you're so cute sometimes!" she said as she finally came out from her hiding.

"Hurry up and help them, will you? I doubt Nozomi-chan will want to see them like this when she gets here..."

"I know-I know!" Angel replied cheerfully before she channeled her power.

"Say...why did you call each other with a nick name...? Is that even possible for us to call our Digimon something else?" Maki asked.

"Huh? What with that question, of course you can give them a nick name if you like. Also—if it can help you identify your Digimon. As you can see, we're not that different with each other, so a nick name can help you to tell us apart..." Lady replied.

"I see..." Maki replied.

"I guess we'll consider giving our Digimon Nicknames too..." she continued.

Lady laughed to the statement,

"Sure...!" she continued to laugh again.

"...I'm expecting some cute names like..." she snorted,

"Chibby..."

And she continued to laugh again.

"C-Chibby? That's a horrible name..." Maki said.

"I honestly think so..." Hanayo said.

"I wonder what Digimon they are to have such a bad name-nya..." Rin said.

Lady didn't comment and laughed again instead.

Beside them, Lalamon and Gaomon woke up—thanks to Angel who revived them.

"We're still here...?" Lalamon asked.

"Yup, still here in your nightmare..." Lady replied to her.

Lalamon quickly jumped, only to be caught by Angel behind her.

"Hello!" Angel said cheerfully—she just finished with healing Lunamon who seems to still be sad from what happened.

"Aaahh!" Lalamon swiftly flew to Hanayo and hid behind her.

"Gaomon is back, alive and sound!" Gaomon says as he hops up and starts to do air-boxing

"Welcome back nya!" Rin replied.

"By the way...Thanks for helping us...is your tamer going to come up here any sooner?" Maki said.

"Well, she certainly will. There are few things she likes to talk about..." Lady said.

"Oo—is it about life insurance-nya?" Rin asked.

"Life Insurance? I don't know if we can call it as that, but it's pretty close..." Lady replied.

"We also sell plenty of—..."

And before Angel was able to finish her words, Lady quickly cover her mouth and drag her a little further from them.

"Angel! Remember what Nozomi-chan says?" Lady whispered to her,

"Mmmmhmhm...?" Angel shook her head.

"She said, don't tell them that she is a merchant or they might escape. Therefore, we have to lay low and pretend that we're only here for a friendly purpose..."

"Mmmmm...mhmhmhmhmhmhmhmmmmhmmmmmhmmmhhmmhmhmmm...?" Angel while her mouth still muffled.

"Yes—exactly, Angel. We demonstrate what we can do, then once Nozomi-chan finished with her business, she will get herself here and offer her service..."

"Mmm...mhmhmhmmmm...?"

"Nah—Don't worry about that, you see that Lunamon over there? That only exists if the tamer is rich, you know. I'm very sure we can get her to use our service and, even better, we get to train ourselves to win in the Mega Tournament...or perhaps, we can aim for the money first. Just imagine how many enchantments can be done with that money!"

"Mmm..mmm.. ...mhmmmmmhmmm..."

"Yes-yes, you're absolutely right, we may also afford some new stuff for our room! Including your light orb night lamp!"

"Mm! Mmhhmhmhm!" Angel said excitedly.

"Yup, that's my Angel. Let's go back and do this, ok?"

"Mm!"

* * *

The City of Memory, Digital world;

"Ok! That's all for the today's training session!" Kotori said cheerfully. Birdramon transported them from Wind Prairie until the city, it took longer than using the teleport but it was much more exciting for Honoka and Umi since they were able to look around the Digital world from the sky.

Both of their Digimon, Botamon and Punimon, reached the second stage. Botamon into Koromon—a pink jelly-like Digimon with long ears, red eyes and small teeth while Punimon evolved into Tsunomon, a jelly-like Digimon with orange fur and a single tusk.

"Waaah! That was really cool though, Kotori-chan!" Honoka appreciated.

"We should hurry and get our room. I'm a little scared that I'll be too late in placing him in a cold place..." Umi said.

"Hehe–I understand! Let's go to the Lobby to make the purchase, shall we?"

Erena and Anjuu were watching them from a distance as the three tamers walked away,...

"Isn't that the girl Tsubasa is after?" Erena asked.

"I'm very sure of that. Does that mean Tsubasa failed to meet her again?"

"Well, it's not like she missed her for days...I mean, she got up close to her yesterday and we passed by them in today's tournament, right?"

"You're right but, knowing Tsubasa, she will demand some real contact or at least be able to use her cheesy line to ask for her contact in Digimon Online..."

"I just hope she isn't desperate enough to go as far as what she did yesterday..."

"The 'Jumping off the second floor one or...?" Anjuu paused,

"Hacking her account...and registering her in Digimon Online..." Erena said.

"Oh..that one seemed to be work, right? She is playing Digimon Online now..."

"Right... huh? I guess we can help her notify that she should stop looking for her wherever she thinks she is..." Erena said.

"I guess so..." Anjuu giggled in response.

* * *

The Lobby, Digital World;

The trio were pretty lucky since they didn't need to queue to get their room. In just a few minutes, Kotori bought two Digi-Room for Umi's account and Honoka's account. Umi got the Cold room with plenty of fish as food and Honoka got a Neutral Room with regular meat as food. They even got the manuals which Umi and Honoka enthusiastically read after placing both of their Digimon in the room. Biyomon returned from her Birdramon form and entered her own room as well to preparing herself for bed, but she is still on an online call with Kotori just to keep up with any question that may come up while the two newbies read their manual.

 _The Digi-Room Manual:_

 _Getting started:_

It says...

 _A Digi-room must contain a place to sleep, a toilet, a place to eat, and a camera. It can be anything as it may vary according to the Digimon type or the tamer's capability to purchase their stuff. Sometimes, a digimon will request for one or two things to be placed in their room. Then they may also request to be evolved into certain level of evolution._

 _Evolved Digimon (Above Rookie) that placed in Digi-room will not spend any tamer energy even if they decided to leave the room on their own, which means that they will stay in that form until they're taken away from their room..._

"Uh so...if we told our Digimon to go hunting, they will stay in that form? It makes me wonder… we can always just leave them in the room and tell them to do stuff on their own, right? So what's the point of taking them away from their room?" Honoka asked.

"Well, if you do that, you won't form any bond with them...and you also not growing up with them. Your tamer level will be low and if your Digimon exceeds your level too much, you might be overwhelmed and be unable to control them..." Kotori replied.

"Here, the book also says that their bond may be depleted if not taken away from their room for a long time..." Umi added.

"Ah...!" Honoka raises their eyebrow.

"Evolved Digimon could be a trouble if you're not bonded with them. They may run wild and you may have to rent a Digimon to bring them back..." Biyomon said.

"Ah, has a case like that ever happened?" Honoka asked.

"Yep, plenty of incidents happened. Some tamers thought that they can abuse the system but they regret their decision when their Digimon left the room and never returned or are unwilling to accept their call...but there are also cases where a Digimon is abandoned in their room forever. That's why the new Policy for Digimon online is that the tamer has to make contact with their Digimon at least once a year. If not, their account will be abolished and their Digimon will be set free or taken by the official." Kotori explained.

"I see, but that won't be a trouble, I believe. We will try our best to keep in contact with them!" Umi said.

"Yup! Also, we have the right to report if our tamer abuses us. We have what we see, what we speak and what we hear recorded in our data, so the official can always check them as proof..." Biyomon added.

"I can't believe there's anyone cruel enough to abuse Digimon..." Umi commented.

"Yeah, Digimons are cute!" Honoka said.

"Hehe...that's how humans are anyway... many players here are aiming to earn income instead of actually playing it for fun. You wouldn't believe how many players are banned because of their attitude..." Kotori replied.

As soon after she said it, Umi's digivice suddenly glowed bright, followed by Honoka's.

"Ah, looks like your Digimon are evolving!" Kotori said.

"Eh...?" Umi and Honoka touched their Digivice.

"Take a look in your digi-room!" Kotori added again.

Honoka and Umi quickly projected their screen on their Digivice, operating them to look into the Digi-Room.

Both of their Digimon were shining brightly then their data began to change.

While Umi's Tsunomon turned into a short and chubby figure, Honoka's turned into a mini-dinosaur-like Digimon. Honoka feels like she has seen the form before and she wonders if it means that it will turn into what she expected to be—the black lizard-like Digimon.

In just a few seconds, their Digimon Data began to dim and showed its true color.

Umi smiled so bright when she saw how her Digimon turned into the one she always wanted it to be while Honoka was surprised by the Digimon that she got.

"Hello! These fish and temperature made me want to enjoy it some more so I evolved into Penguinmon!" said the short and chubby Digimon. He has a blue thick fur and a yellow penguin beak—a pair of antennas made it look different from a real penguin.

"Hello! I'm Agumon...! Uh... can I have some more meat please?" the yellow lizard-like Digimon said with his cute throaty voice.

"C-C-C-cute..." Honoka said.

"Absolutely cute!" Umi said.

"I know, right?!" Kotori said.

"W-wwaahh! I want to hug him!" Honoka said.

"Me too! Can I take him out of room now?!" Umi said.

"Hehe...we should save that for tomorrow. It's time for us to log out..." Kotori said.

"Ah, you're right...it's almost dark..." Umi said.

"Aahhh! Why do we have to be in a cliff hanger!" Honoka complained.

"Hehe... save the excitement for tomorrow. But anyhow, you can always contact your Digimon through your Digivice if you want to get to know them...maybe it will be much more fun tomorrow if you do so." Kotori said.

"Ok, let's get ourselves home. I believe we still have to do some studying for tomorrow's class! Then, perhaps, also continue reading the manual?" Umi said.

"Yup-yup!" Kotori said.

"Hehe, See you all later!" Honoka said as she waved to her Digimon. Kotori and Umi did the same. Their connection went off and the three began to walk to the terminal to log out.

Right after they disappeared through the terminal, Tsubasa ran in into the lobby and realized that she is too late.

"Hah—I missed her again..."

Tsubasa said as she panted. Black Agumon is right next to her and he seems to be somewhat tired as well...

"Heh—should've waited here instead of going all the way to the Wind Prairie..." he said.

"I know... but I didn't expect them to be that quick... I should've remembered that they own a Birdramon..." Tsubasa said.

"What's the next plan, Tsubasa?" Black Agumon asked.

"Hmm...we should make a promise to meet next time...I have her phone contact!" Tsubasa said.

"Why you didn't of that before, Tsubasa..." Black Agumon said.

"Isn't it kind of exciting to do this kind of chase? I feel the struggle is much more realistic!"

"Is that your excuse for forgetting that you can contact her on her phone?"

"Oh, come on, Black Agumon! Just say ok!"

"Ok..." Black Agumon replied.

"Well, I guess I'm logging out too. I'll place a few amazing slabs of meat in your room, so help me again tomorrow, ok?"

"Ok."

"Let's pretend that the mission didn't fail today… I can't bear to listen to Erena's lecture..."

"Ok..."

* * *

At night, The real world;

Honoka returned to her room and is charging her Digivice. According to the manual, the Digivice requires charging when it is in the real world but they don't need to be charged while in the Digital world.

While she was at it, she decided to read a few school books to make sure that she did a fine job with her study today. It's not her favorite thing to do but she has to do it or she will probably face Umi's wrath… and that is just as scary as her mother's. When it comes to her test scores , Umi has always been the first person to come up to her and ask how she did.

She might get lucky sometimes if Kotori comes up to her next because, when Kotori is there, Umi's wrath could be averted somehow.

In the middle of readings her lessons, her eyes keep getting drawn to the manual she received from Digimon Online.

Honestly, it's still a mystery to her how Digimon Online feels so realistic—it's like she is actually transported into a different world instead of playing a game. The again, the Digivice and the Manual are real after all.

Could she actually be transported anyway? But how? Digimons are data and she is not a data!

She tried to remember what happened today: from being able to carry those baby digimon to being carried by Birdramon. She swears that she could feel them— even the heat that Birdramon releases from her fiery wings.

When she was finally about to reach for her digivice, her phone suddenly received a text notification.

"W-whoa...that surprised me!" Honoka said to herself.

Then, instead of reaching for her digivice, she reached for her phone and took a look at the text message she just received.

 _ **From : Sonoda Umi**_

 _Honoka, you're studying right now, right? I know it's tempting but hang in there for another hour, ok? You can try contact your Digimon before you go to bed._

she says...

"Hehe, ok!" Honoka replied verbally as she wrote the same response.

Then, as she was about to place her phone back down, another text came up.

 _ **From : Kira Tsubasa**_

 _Hey, Honoka Kousaka! Is that your name? I'm just texting you to ask how your first Digimon Online experience was..._

"Eh..how did she know that I'm playing Digimon Online...? How did she know my number too? I haven't give her a call..." Honoka thought to herself.

 _ **To : Kira Tsubasa**_

 _Yep! That's my name! Digimon Online is fun! I can't wait to play it again tomorrow!"_

It just took less than a minute for Honoka to wait before she received a response.

 _ **From : Kira Tsubasa**_

 _Really? We should skip school and play together in the morning. How does that sound?"_

Honoka giggled at the text.

 _ **To: Kira Tsubasa**_

 _Haha—if I do that, Umi-chan and my Mother will kill me for sure!_

Then another second passed before she received another response.

 _ **From : Kira Tsubasa**_

 _I know! Haha, I was joking. But, anyway, what is Umi to you and who is that girl with Birdramon? Please tell me about them!_

 _ **To : Kira Tsubasa**_

 _Hmm..well, Umi-chan and Kotori-chan are my best friends. Umi-chan is strict and scary sometimes, but she cares a lot about me! She is kind too! Kotori-chan is rather calm and gentle, but she is always supportive!"_

 _ **From : Kira Tsubasa**_

 _That sounds like Erena and Anjuu for me! They are my best friends too. Erena replace Umi and Anjuu replace Kotori! Hehe! What about you? How do you describe yourself?_

Honoka tilted her head slightly, she wonders how she will respond to that.

 _ **To : Kira Tsubasa**_

 _I honestly don't know. A bit clumsy, perhaps? I tend to do things I didn't intend to do._

 _ **From : Kira Tsubasa**_

 _Sounds Great! I like you! We should hang out some more! What about we play Digimon Online together tomorrow? After school?_

Honoka is a little flustered when she reads the reply, though she decided to ignore that and respond however she can.

 _ **To : Kira Tsubasa.**_

 _Sure! I'll be playing with Umi-chan and Kotori-chan too! Let's get along!_

After that, Honoka didn't receive any more texts.

* * *

Meanwhile,

"Erennaaaaa!" a voice begged loudly. Erena rolled her eyes as she held her phone on her ear.

"What is it now, Tsubasa?" Erena asked.

"Please help me! You have to help me!"

"Help with what?"

"Well, I did it... I really did it just now!"

"Did what?!"

"I made a promise with Honoka!"

"Honoka who?! Is that your ginger girl?!"

"Yes! She is!"

"Then what do you want me to do?"

"She'll be coming with two of her friends in Digimon online tomorrow!"

Erena sighed...

"Alright...so...you want us to come with you too and be the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth wheel with them?"

"No-no, not quite. I want you to take them away somehow. Let me and Honoka have some alone time!"

"How are we even going to do that? Do you think we can just go 'Hey yo—you two! Come with us and let these love birds be together?'"

"No-no, don't be that obvious. Arrange something...ask Anjuu if you're not creative enough."

"It's not about being 'creative' or 'not creative enough,' Tsubasa... It's about—do you think it's fine for her to be alone with you all of a sudden? You just met her...once! And will just be the second time if this actually happens..."

"I'm sure she won't mind!"

Erena sighed again.

"No. We're going to do it our way, Tsubasa..."

"You're no fun..." Tsubasa said.

"I don't care. You're not going to do it your way. If you really want this to work, then trust us and do it our way..."

"Booooo..."

Erena rolled her eyes and ended the call. She called Anjuu immediately.

"Anjuu, do you have time to listen right now?" she said.

"Mmm...of course sweetie, what's up? Is it about Tsubasa again?"

"Yes. Exactly..."

"You're a little bit over protective. It's fine for her to do anything she likes."

"She was asking me to set up a scene for them—or anything that could give them a chance ti be alone together..."

"Hold-on, Hold-on... I don't get this. What did she want us to do?"

"Tomorrow after school _we_... will play Digimon Online...with them..." Erena said.

"Oh...that sounds like a pretty good idea. I actually have something I want to talk about with that girl who owns Birdramon... she sells fashion, right? I'd like to know more about her stuff..." Anjuu replied.

"Anjuu...you're with her...huh?"

"What's wrong with that? You can try hanging out with that blue-haired girl. She seems to suit you..."

"Suit...me? Are you serious?"

"Well, if you want me to say that I suit you better..."

"Not again, Anjuu..."

"I'm always interested in Fashion… you know what I do..."

"I know but..."

"We will definitely arrange something, don't worry about it. Save your lovely head for something else, ok?"

"Alright..." Erena sighed again.

* * *

The Shinjuku Café—Real World;

"Haaaaah—that was sooo nice, Ericchi!" Toujou Nozomi said as she rested on the sofa.

"Seems like you made plenty of money today..." A beautiful blonde replied as she operated the Laptop connected to her Digivice.

"Lady and Angel did great. They actually hooked some tamers up to use our services..."

"Did you give them what they want?"

"Yup! Lady got her new enchantment and Angel got her new night lamp. I checked up on them a while ago and they seem to already be sleeping and cuddling like we always do in the weekend..."

"They both are? I thought Lady doesn't like sleeping at night. Especially in her ultimate form..."

"Oh she changed her time zone just so she could hang out with her Angel.."

"Sweet..." the blonde replied.

The purplenette remained silent for a moment as she watched how the blonde was focused on her laptop.

"What are you doing now, Ericchi?"

"Checking the market..."

Nozomi is once again silent. She knows that she isn't really looking at the market or, perhaps she could say, she never looked at the market with that much attention...

She reached across the table and emptied out the tissue box then peeked at the parfait glass to see only a spoonful of melted chocolate left. She carefully scooped it all up and offered it to her girlfriend.

"Ericchi—Aaaahhhh!"

"Aaahh..." the blonde accepted it.

Nozomi intentionally tilted the spoon and left a chocolate stain on her girlfriend's cheek.

"Oops, sorry...I left something on your cheek"

"It's fine..." the blonde replied as she began to look for tissue—though she couldn't find it on the table.

"Do you want to go to the restroom or you want me to lick that off your cheek?"

"I'd like the second choice but not here, Nozomi. I'll go to the rest room for now..."

"Alright. Then I'll make sure to get some melted chocolate next time you stay over my apartment..." Nozomi said as she watched her girlfriend head over to the restroom.

Soon after the blonde left, Nozomi quickly check her laptop.

She could see a few screenshots and saved data and also some information that probably came from her old back-up disk.

Nozomi sighed softly,

"You're still trying..." she mumbled,

Suddenly, a video-mail popped out on her screen. Nozomi knows that she will be in trouble if she is caught opening it but she is really curious so...that should be fine, right? Her girlfriend —Eli Ayase loves her and she will definitely forgive her for this small 'mistake'.

Just as she clicked the video mail notification, Eli returned from the restroom and Nozomi quickly tried to avoid getting caught in front of her laptop. She busied herself with the parfait glasswhich is actually empty.

Eli returned to her seat and the first thing she noticed is the video-mail. Her eyes aren't amused but she opened it anyway...

"What's wrong, Ericchi?" Nozomi asked—pretending to be as innocent as she can.

"You know it...and I know what you did..." Eli replied as she watched the video start to load.

Nozomi smiled faintly.

"My-my, I'm really no match for your—clever head. You knew what I was going to do and yet you let me do it anyway?"

"I would keep wondering if that was really your plan if I didn't let you..."

"So you expect me to make a comment now?"

"Go ahead...I love you either way."

"You're such a sweet darling... but well, all I will say is : you should stop trying and start to training your new Renamon. She might not be the same, but she is there to replace her..."

"She _can't_...be replaced...just like you..." Eli replied a little coldly.

"How come you're relating this to me...?" Nozomi asked.

"If you are gone, I'm not going to find a replacement...you are my only one..."

"That's sweet, Ericchi... but for real. I'm not going anywhere, so don't equate this to our relationship. I understand that you love her—you love your Kuzunoha... but think of _this_ Renamon's feelings...she is working hard to reach you..."

Eli sighed. She is about to say something else but the video mail distracted her.

The video started with a familiar room with the oriental Decoration. Then Renamon appeared in the screen. She started with a cough, which Nozomi noticed, and she decided to take a seat next to Eli so she could watch the video as well.

"Uh...uhm...Eli... erh..." Renamon looks like she is trying to read something placed in front of the camera.

"Sorry...This is my...uh...24th takes I guess..I'm... not very good with this sort of thing..." she continued.

Eli and Nozomi remained silent and they both noticed the mess behind Renamon. A lot of crumpled and tattered papers piled up.

"So...I...want you to know...that I... really regret what I did. I've been contemplating this and... I...should've known that...joining a tournament without you is something that I shouldn't do. I know that...uh...what I said before...about making you proud... was such a naïve statement. You've...always been proud of your...former Digimon... She...was your pride and joy...she did so much better things than me...it's no wonder that...what I did just made you upset...and it's probably shaming you as well... I mean... uh...I believe...she took you to the S-Rank...While I...got you kicked out of your S-Rank... uhm... are you really kicked?" Renamon scratched her head shyly.

"W-Well...either way...I also...want you to know...that...I envy her... I want to be like her... I want you to help me be like her. We might not be the same, but... l-look...in a way... we're the same...we both...want to be your pride and joy...I want to take you to the S-Rank...I want to win every Tournament for you... so...please... train me... train me as hard as you can. I don't mind it if I have to work... a thousand times harder...I just want to be stronger...like her..."

"T-Th-That's all I could say... T-Thank you...if you watch this till the end..."

And the video stopped.

Eli and Nozomi are somewhat astonished with how Renamon put that much effort to make such a clumsy speech. Eli didn't look that amused but Nozomi gave her a big smile.

"See, Ericchi? This is what I'm telling you. She wants you to train her...and the last I heard from the staff is that Renamon has been waiting for you to Log In at the Lobby. They pity her and even offered to set her free. She refused him and snapped then told him that he is such a nosy staff."

"Haven't you been training her?" Eli replied.

"Ah—you knew about that one too...but it can't be helped. I pity her so I took her to places and trained her while you were away. How did you know though?"

"You're the only person who knows where I keep my Digivice—and also the only person who dares to sneak in to my apartment at night and place it back where it supposed to be. Plus, you snuck my Digivice in my bag just a while ago so it's pretty obvious who takes my digivice everyday..."

Nozomi giggled,

"You're sharp, Ericchi. This is one of the reasons why I love you...but now-now, this is about her again. What are you going to do now? Are you going to accept her apology or you will just become thone kind of asshole tamer who never cares about their Digimon's feelings?"

"I'll think about it, ok? I don't want to be too hasty..."

"That sounds like good news to me. I'll make sure Lady and Angel are there to help you train her. Also, I will take a vacation from making money for now and focus on her..."

"You don't have to put that much effort. The point of training is not to pass easy tasks but to make it through difficult tasks..."

"Oh trust me, Lady and Angel know how to make things hard. Or more like, they're experts on making things harder so, really, don't fret. It will be intense and special."

* * *

Kousaka residence—The Real World;

Honoka is finished with her study and has prepared herself for bed. She jumped to the bed in her pajama and accurately landed on it.

She immediately picked up the digivice on her end table and opened it to the Digi-Room section the pressed the 'monitor' button.

There she could see her Agumon in a deep sleep on his bed. The room is kind of messy and the food plate is empty. Should she place new food there?

She took a moment to think about it.

Perhaps she should and she could also add the Miracle Fruit.

After that, she closed her digivice screen and placed it back on the end-table.

She is about to close her eyes when her phone suddenly received a text notification...

 _ **From : Kira Tsubasa**_

 _Honoka! I'm looking forward to tomorrow. It's a promise! I'll be coming over to your school too so you have to wait for me! Good Night!_

Honoka smiled,

"Ok!" she replied in a whisper—but failed to send an actual text reply.

* * *

 **See you next chapter!**


	4. Ch4 : Anything For You!

**Ok! Next chapter is here!**

 **I forgot to credit in my previous chapter, it's still the same editor like in previous chapter of this fiction!**

 **Thank her!**

 **Also, thanks for Reviews/edit/faves/follows!**

* * *

Otonokizaka High-School—The Real World;

The school bell rings.

While most of the students made their way to wherever they were needed, Honoka and her friends stayed behind in the classroom to discuss what they're going to do in the Digital World...

"...so you made a promise with this someone named Kira Tsubasa?" Umi asked.

"Yep! Hehe..." Honoka replied cheerfully.

"Isn't that a little suspicious? I mean, you...and her...just met like... once? Then she invited you to play together? What if she plans to harm you or something?" Umi asked.

"Uh...I feel like I've heard that name before...something about the Elite Group.. I think she was a leader...or something..." Kotori said.

"Exactly my thought. What if she plans to bully you? Knowing that this girl is...you know...an expert... " Umi said.

"Ehh..? Well...she seems nice..." Honoka replied.

"Don't you, like, always think that everyone is a nice anyway?" Umi crossed her arms.

"She said she is going to pick us up from school today..."

"That's even more suspicious! Who is this Kira Tsubasa , Honoka? She could kidnap us!" Umi said.

"Eh...? W-well I don't think something that extreme will happen..." Honoka replied.

"Now-now, I'm doing a search of her name in my Digivice..." Kotori said.

"And...? What did you get?" Umi asked.

"She is the leader of the A-Rise Elite Group. It may only consist of three people, but...hehe... they're all S-Rank..."

Umi and Honoka moved closer to Kotori and looked into the projected screen.

"I'm interested to get to know one of their members. Anjuu Yuuki? I've been checking out her work in fashion! But I never really buy her stuff because I can't really afford it..."

"Can you check their profile?" Umi asked.

"Uh...I need to add them to be able to see their profile. Hmm...let me do that anyway..."

Kotori added Anjuu Yuuki to her contact list. She thought that she will have to wait a little longer but her request was accepted immediately because…

 _User Anjuu Yuuki has attempted to add you; therefore, Anjuu Yuki and you are in each other's contact list now._

"Oh..." Kotori raised her eyebrows.

"...never knew she tried... hehe... I often miss my notifications." she continued as she checked Anjuu's profile.

"So how is it...?" Umi asked.

Kotori tilted her screen slightly to let Honoka and Umi see it at a better angle,

It read :

 _Name : Anjuu Yuuki_

 _Rank : S-Rank (A-Rise)_

 _Tamer Level : 158_

 _Digimon : Lalamon ( Lv. 145/211%)_

 _Job : Student_

 _Profession : Lv. 78 Fashion Supplier, Lv.105 Merchant, Lv.93 Idol_

 _InGameSpouse : -_

 _Biography :_

 _We do not give autographs outside the autograph sessions; we do not offer any sort of service; we do not negotiate. If you're looking for our shop, go to the Tournament Hall—3_ _rd_ _floor, room 231. Sincerely, Erena._

Then a private message suddenly popped up on her screen...

 _ **[PM] Anjuu :**_ _Is this the person who own Birdramon?! A friend of Honoka?!_

Kotori, Umi, and Honoka were flustered. Why does she sound so excited? Is this really her?

 _ **[PM] Kotori :**_ _Uh, yes?_

Kotori replied.

 _ **[PM] Anjuu :**_ _You're coming with her today, right? Right? We're on the way to your school! A little traffic jam here but we will make it soon! Get yourself in front of school gates, ok?_

Kotori, Umi, and Honoka turned to each other and wondered why this person is so hyped up even though they were facing difficulty at the moment.

 _ **[PM] Anjuu :**_ _Sorry about that… that was Tsubasa's doing. She is so interested in Honoka._

"W-whoaaa?! What?!" Umi, Kotori, and Honoka shouted.

"Interested in me?" Honoka raises her eyebrow in surprise.

"W-what sort of 'interest' she is talking about?" Umi said.

"Uh...let me ask..."

 _ **[PM] Kotori :**_ _I'm sorry but...interested in Honoka? What kind of 'Interest' is this?"_

 _ **[PM] Anjuu :**_ _Ah, that sounded a little creepy, huh? Well, she has been getting hyped. I'm not sure myself. But maybe it's the same as my interest in you..._

Umi slammed her hands on the table when she read it.

"This isn't allowed! I forbid it!" she said clearly as she clenched her fists.

 **[PM] Anjuu :** I want to know more about my favorite fashion designer! I've been purchasing your stuff as well! So, I'm also almost as excited to meet you personally.

"Oh..." Umi calmed down.

"A...ahh...it's that kind of interest..." Kotori smiled, a little embarrassed.

"Hehe...they sound friendly, right?" Honoka said.

"I guess I was wrong to be that cautious..." Umi scratched her cheek shyly.

 _ **[PM] Kotori :**_ _OK, hehe. Honestly I've been wanting to purchase your stuff too, Anjuu-san, but I never have enough to do that ^^_

 _ **[PM] Anjuu :**_ _I can understand! My stuff and your stuff aren't that farapart in terms of quality, honestly. I just have better materials because I'm S-Ranked and have access to decent quality materials. So, I believe, if you reach my rank, we can be rivals—or partners in crime? ^^_

 _ **[PM] Kotori :**_ _Sounds good to me!_

 _ **[PM] Anjuu :**_ _Good! Hehe! By the way, about our car. We got stuck in a heavy traffic, thanks to an incident that happened a few kilometers away. We could've just met up in the Digital World Terminal but Tsubasa insisted to use the car and pick you girls up so, I suppose, you all will have to wait approximately an hour?_

 _ **[PM] Kotori :**_ _Ok! We'll be waiting!_

"Hmm...if that's the case, I wonder if we should do something while waiting?" Umi asked.

"How about we go to the third years' hall?" Kotori asked.

"T-Third years hall?! We would be dead if we accidentally did something wrong!" Honoka said.

"Eh, well...I just want to find someone. I ventured to the first years' hall but could only find some of my new acquaintances so I was wondering if I can find the other one in third years' hall..."

"Oh..what sort of business do you have with this person though?" Umi asked.

"Hnngg...well...I was private messaging her last night..." Kotori said as she searched through her chat history—then clicked on the user name 'Nozomi Toujou'

 _ **[PM] Kotori :**_ _Nozomi-san! I didn't know you are a Card Dealer, can I take a little look at your collection?_

 _ **[PM] Nozomi :**_ _Ah—are you interested on purchasing?_

 _ **[PM] Kotori :**_ _Maybe not now, I just wanted to browse around...hehe...^^_

 _ **[PM] Nozomi :**_ _That's too bad. But alright, you can take a look… but you have to come to Otonokizaka tomorrow. I got some work to do there until 3 PM._

 _ **[PM] Kotori :**_ _Otonokizaka? What a coincidence! That's my school too!_

 _ **[PM] Nozomi :**_ _Is that so? Then, you have to look for me afterschool. I'm not telling you where though~_

 _ **[PM] Kotori :**_ _Do I get anything if I manage to find you?_

 _ **[PM] Nozomi :**_ _Maybe? Hehe._

 _ **[PM] Kotori :**_ _That's a deal! I'll be looking for you!_

"Uhm...this sounds a little...you know...tricky?" Umi said.

"What is?" Kotori asked.

"Nothing, I just heard that some merchants are too good at persuading people." Umi said.

"Ahaha— it's ok! I'm firm with my decision. I'm not going to buy any cards for now and focus on upgrading my digivice instead!" Kotori said.

"Upgrading your Digivice...?" Honoka asked.

"Yup, my Digivice! Hehe... I tend to spend too much when it's about Cards and forgot about my Digivice. Biyomon often scolds me about that too..."

"What's the use of this Digivice Upgrade though?" Umi asked.

"Uh...more battery power, more signal, more features, and you can evolve your Digimon to higher stages with extra memory...you don't really need these if you're just going to champion stage though but you usually need the extra memory for the Mega evolution..."

"Ah...I see, so I guess we can think about that later..." Umi said.

"Yup! Hehe...now, we should hurry with searching before Anjuu and the others arrive!"

* * *

Meanwhile, in the first year's Hall;

"Maki-chan, didn't Lunamon tell you to challenge Kotori-senpai once you get to meet her again?" Hanayo asked. The three are currently waiting for Rin to finish copying Hanayo's notes. Maki is reading a manual while Hanayo is browsing through her Digivice.

"Heh—honestly, I don't want to... I know she will lose again..." Maki said.

"You're a little too pessimistic about her, aren't you?"

"Nah—I just feel like being able to evolve to champion still means nothing. Besides, I believe Kotori-senpai has already trained her Digimon a lot more than me training Lunamon..." Maki replied again.

"Mmm.. you're right, but...I just think that it's fine for her to try again and see for herself. Lunamon isn't as reckless as she was at first, right?"

Maki sighed,

"This is just for you two to hear but… what Lunamon did kind of reminded me of myself when I was little...that's why, I sort know what she might be thinking right now...and I want her to not do whatever she is thinking..."

"Why?" Hanayo asked again.

"Because she will just be angry and sulk for days. I would rather make her eager to do whatever she wants to do and train until she is strong enough..."

"Hehe, ok then. I guess you know her better..." Hanayo said with a smile.

"...and by the way, thanks for yesterday. I'd never thought I'd be able to evolve my Lalamon into a champion that quick. It's too bad that I didn't get to see the tournament myself but since Lalamon won anyway..."

"I can understand why not many players watch over their Digimon in a rookie tournament...so it's fine. Plus, I was watching over Lalamon and Gaomon too last night, they're doing great on their own..." Maki said.

"You did? Nice! Thanks!" Hanayo said happily.

"Heh–it's not that nice...I'm just watching..." Maki replied with a slight blush coloring her cheeks as she averted her eyes.

"By the way... maybe we should head to the Digital world now. Let's try to train on our own..." she continued.

"Sure! Hehe... but... maybe we can wait for a bit more. Lalamon told me there was an incident in Akihabara so we may not be able to go to the Digital World Terminal until at least an hour"

"Incident? What Incident...?" Maki asked.

"She said that there was a truck that suddenly appeared from the sky and fell on another truck—it's so strange that it feels like the truck has a doppelganger..."

"Is the driver ok?!" Maki asked.

"Yep, he was able to dodge the falling truck. He knew what was about to happen when he saw a shadow on the ground. There's no victim but the truck itself."

"W-Wow...that sounds scary though. A truck falling from the sky... what could possibly have happened before that?"

"I wonder about that too..."

* * *

The Third Year hallway;

Honoka, Kotori, and Umi do their best to look polite though, no matter how good they are at it, some eyes were still set on them and, for some reason, it felt like they will soon be bullied— even though the third years were just wondering what the second years were doing in their hallway.

"T-This is really scary for some reason, their eyes are on us..." Honoka said.

"I know, let's keep moving forward, though..." Kotori said.

"I still couldn't find anyone like who matches your description, Kotori... are you sure she is here?" Umi asked.

"I'm pretty sure she is..."

Then, as they're about to reach the end of the hallway, Honoka pointed at someone.

"Ahhh!" Honoka exclaimed.

"W-what's wrong, Honoka-chan?" Kotori asked.

"That girl!" she said, her finger is pointing to a black-haired little girl.

"Oh...uh...who is that?" Kotori asked.

"This person..." Honoka said, taking out her digivice and tinkered with it before showing a profile to Kotori and Umi

 _Name : Niko Yazawa_

 _Rank : Champion Rank_

 _Tamer Level : 78_

 _Digimon : DemiDevimon ( Lv. 61/68%)_

 _Job : Student_

 _Profession : Lv. 14 idol, Lv. 52 Merchant_

 _InGameSpouse : -_

 _Biography :_

 _Stop talking about my size and my Digimon's size!_

"H-her Digimon size is terrible..." Kotori whispered to Umi.

"You're right... 68%... I wonder how could she get that low?" Umi replied.

"Bad luck perhaps? But anyway...we shouldn't mention that... she said here that she doesn't like talking about it..." Kotori replied.

"Should we ask her?!" Honoka asked, somewhat enthusiastically.

"E-Eh...well..sure...maybe she is her classmate..." Kotori said.

"ok!"

Honoka approached the little girl.

"Niko-chan!" Honoka said.

"N-Niko-chan?!" Kotori and Umi were close to screaming. They swear their heartbeat began to race—they know that she shouldn't call a senior with such familiarity.

"Oh—it's you. What's up?" the little girl replied.

"Hehe, I wonder if you know anyone named Nozomi Toujou..." Honoka said.

"Sure. She is my classmate. Are you looking for her?"

"Yup! Hehe. Actually, my friends here is the one who's looking for her..." Honoka gestured to Kotori.

"H-Hello..." Kotori waved to the little girl awkwardly.

"At this hour, Nozomi is probably in the council room with her girlfriend..."

"G-Girl-Girlfriend...?!" Umi exclaimed.

"C-C-Council room?!" Kotori exclaimed.

"Yea-uh? They probably are just 'a pair of best friends who get along with each other' as what they say to everyone but they look more like girlfriends to me since—you know, when they hole up in their apartment all weekend, giggling and moaning but never answering anyone's call, you just know that something is happening inside... worst case is to find used underwear under the bed."

"D-Do I look like I wanted to hear about that?!" Umi stated.

"That sounds like a serious scandal though..." Kotori said.

"I'm just messing with you. Nothing like that happened...maybe..." Niko said.

"The 'maybe' sounds very assuring..." Umi smirked wryly.

"Anyhow, you're looking for her, right? Do you need me to accompany you all?" Niko asked.

"Sure! That would be nice!" Honoka said.

Kotori and Umi couldn't burst her bubble but, the way Honoka talks to this senior is just too...friendly. They're afraid she would go too far and people around them will talk.

"Alright, then just follow me..." Niko said.

"W-wait a minute..." Kotori said.

"Yes?" Niko replied.

"C-Council room, right? Doesn't that mean...she is in the council?" Kotori asked.

"She is the vice president..." Niko replied.

"T-the vice president?! Then it's true...she is the president's girlfriend!" Kotori said.

"Well, alright, you can say it like that...but what do you know about the president anyway..."

"Isn't your mother the Principal, though?" Honoka asked.

"Yes, I know...but...there was this... back in my first year...I returned from my class to the Principal's room—I didn't pay attention to my shirt that time but I wore it messily. I was so occupied with the thought that its summer and I need to get rid of any possible piece of cloth..." Kotori cringed,

"...let me guess, you met Eli and she scolded you in front of your mother?"

"Yes—and worse, my mother supported her! She said I should be the role model so I shouldn't wear my uniform messily while I'm in this school..."

"Nah—that just something common, really... Eli could scold everyone in this school if she feels like it. Thing is, as long as you're not ticking her off, you won't get scolded...which is only possible if you don't have any business with her..." Niko said.

"W-Well...now I feel like I shouldn't go to the council room..." Kotori replied.

"What's your business with Nozomi though? That might change everything, you know..."

"Uh...it's not...that important..it's just...uh...Digimon Online stuff..." Kotori replied again.

"Really? Then you shouldn't go there after all..." Niko said.

"Ahahaha..." Kotori laughed awkwardly. She looked somewhat a little disappointed. Umi and Honoka were concerned and Niko could see the gloom on their faces.

"Actually, there's still a way...All you need to do is to summon her out of the council room. Try sending her a private message. Tell her that you know where she is but you're not brave enough to enter the council room..." Niko said—which made Honoka's face light up.

"Aaah! That's right! We can try to call her out instead!" Honoka said.

"H-how would this go, exactly?" Kotori asked.

"Wait for her on a spot then tell her that you've seen her in the council room but are scared to enter because of Eli. She should come out of the council room and you can do whatever you need to do." Niko said.

"Ok...then...uh... would the rooftop work?"

"Probably... try it out anyway."

"Ok!" Kotori said.

* * *

Meanwhile, the council room;

"A maze of dreams..."

"A maze of Lilies!"

An acoustic guitar was being played by the beautiful blonde who sat on top of the table. The president and the vice president were singing when they finished their task for today and enjoyed the rhythm and being intimate with each other...

The song plays for a while—and it feels like no one could disturb them from this, not even the purple Digivice that rang for the 10th time. When the song reached its end, the President and Vice president pressed their lips against each other's—with the guitar still on the blonde's lap and the purplenette leaning close, they finally heard the call.

Their lips parted and Nozomi finally moved to where she kept her digivice.

"Yup-yup, who's calling now...?" she said.

The blonde remained silent as she started to tidy all the stuff that they used.

"Ah...Lady and Angel..." Nozomi said as she accepted the video-call.

"Haaa—Finally I reached you..." Lady said. She sat in front of the camera while Angel is sitting behind her and both of them are in their ultimate form—LadyDevimon and Angewomon.

"What's up, you two?" Nozomi asjed.

"I just got some news from today's Digi-Journal. There's an incident that happened in the real world and I was worried so I tried to call you but you didn't even answer my calls!"

"Oh...? You're worried about me? That's kind of you but what is this incident you're talking about now?"

"It's about this, Nozomi-chan!" Angel said as she held up a newspaper to the camera. Nozomi could see in her screen that there's a picture of a truck squished by a similar truck.

"Hmmm...this looks...terrible..." Nozomi said.

"Yes, and it happened in a few parts of the real world, not only in Akihabara..." Lady said as Angel showed a few more articles from the same newspaper.

Eli raised her eyebrows and curiously peeked at Nozomi's digivice screen. When she stopped, she embraced her girlfriend lovingly and placed a kiss on her neck. The Digimon in front of them don't seem to care about that—or perhaps they are just used to it.

"...Buildings, vehicles, and a few people suddenly doubled?" Nozomi tilts her head slightly,

"Hmm...could this be caused by the Digital Shift?" Eli said.

"You know about the Digital Shift?" Lady asked.

"What is this... Digital Shift?" Nozomi added.

"Yes, I was researching about... a few things. Digital Shift could mean anything but, in this case, Digital Shift means that the Digital world is shifting itself to the real world. It's not the first time for this to happen, alas, it because Digital Shift happened—the Digimon Online today exist..." Eli explained.

"Hmm... I've never thought to question it when playing Digimon Online. I simply thought that humans just found a way for technology to create a living AI which creates these Digimon..." Nozomi said.

"What's an...AI?" Angel asked.

"That's like a brain, Angel... it's from Artificial Intelligence..." Lady said.

"So...are we made from AI?" Angel asked again.

"We are definitely not. We are alive the same way humans are, except theories say that we're made of what humans call 'data' and we live in a Digital World. That's why we're called 'Digital Monster' or 'Digimon.'" Lady replied.

"Ahh—I see..." Angel nods.

"So what does the Digital Shift have to do with Digimon Online?" Nozomi asked.

"Digimon Online's basic concept is made from that phenomenon, except that it's the human that is partially digitalized in order for the Digital World systems to have an effect on them. If you don't know what the systems have for us, I'll give you some examples...it's basically the energy relief items, fashion effect, teleport, and much more..."

"I see... then, tell me why you think this case is related to the Digital Shift?"

"Because humans make errors and there's a big chance that they messed up in yesterday's maintenance..." Eli replied.

"I still don't really get the idea, Ericchi. Can you please tell me in much better detail?"

"Easy, Digital World is actually a universe where Digimon came from—a parallel universe of the earth. You may see them differently right now because they're made of data, which is easily modified by either the Digimon or humans. The Digimon Online used the Digital Shift phenomenon to bridge the two worlds and, if not tended properly, it become buggy at some point..."

"That sounds dangerous..." Nozomi said.

"It is very dangerous. That's why Digital World's staff aren't just random technicians… most of them are highly skilled. This small mistake might happen, but I'm very sure that they're trying their best to avoid this in the future... unless..." Eli pauses.

"Unless...?" Lady and Angel said as they also waited for Eli to finish her speech.

"...there's someone smarter than them, someone who's capable of hacking through the system for whatever purpose..."

"That's unforgiveable! Putting people in danger for the sake of his own plans!" Angel said.

"I knew you will say that, Angel. As a Vaccine Digimon, you tend to have an innate sense of justice..." Eli said.

"Really? I'm flattered!" Angel said.

"Hey-Hey, now, Angel, don't be too happy. What if this person is actually planning for something that could benefit us all?" Lady said.

"...and that is precisely what you would say, Lady..." Eli continued.

"Huh? You've expected that too? Are you a mind-reader like Nozomi-chan?" Lady asked.

"Now-now, I believe it's not mind-reading like what I usually do. It's more like the theories within the Digital World Concept. This is just the understanding I reached after listening to Ericchi's explanation." Nozomi said as she placed her fingers on her chin.

"Vaccine, Data, Virus and Free-Type: Those are reflections of the real world. Some people are born as Vaccine—they always have an innate sense of justice. They're not always the kindest among people, though, and there's still a chance that they to act offensively towards others. Those who are born as data happen to live and think neutrally, which may make them look passive even though, sometimes, they are very curious—attempting to do this and that to satisfy their curiosity which may sometimes appear offensive for others. Those who are born as Virus have a mischievous side and demonstrate aggressiveness, though not all of them will act like a villain. Free Types are just those who demonstrate free-will."

"A good thinking, Nozomi. That's exactly how the concept is..." Eli appreciated.

"So you're saying that... I was born evil?" Lady asked to confirm.

"Being Evil and being mischievous are different, you know. Pulling a prank is mischievous, but it's purpose is not always harm. Sometimes people prank others to show that they want to be friends with them..." Nozomi replied.

"Putting that aside, what do you think about yourself, Lady?" Eli asked.

"Hmm...what do I think about myself, huh? I'm sure I always have this side of me that thinks of something mischievous, something that I think is evil but makes me happy. Or maybe, I should've said that I'm happy because I'm being bad to others but, at the same time, I'd like to see people smile...it's a little too complicated to explain I guess..." Lady tried to explain.

"Maybe those feeling are created because you hang out with your sister?" Nozomi asked.

Lady turns to Angel and gazed at her deeply as she thought about it.

"Hehe...Do you think I'm a good influence on you?" Angel asked innocently.

"You probably are, huh?" Lady replied.

"I'm glad! But I don't think so. Hehe... you're always the one to step up whenever Kuzunoha is too strict on us. It's like you know when I feel tired and, even though you know you'll be in trouble, you stand your ground and insist on getting a few minutes of break for both of us..." Angel replied.

"So...you're saying...?" Lady tried to confirm.

"You are good inside. There's no denying that." Angel said with her soft smile.

"You're so straight forward sometimes, it makes me blush..." Lady said.

"Hehe...blushing isn't a crime anyway! All good!" Angel replied sweetly.

"Is Kuzunoha that hard to deal with...?" Eli asked.

"Ah—No! I forgot...!" Angel covered her mouth.

"Oh—right, we're... sorry about mentioning her. We should not have..." Lady added.

"It's fine but… I want you two to tell me whatever you think of her..." Eli said.

Lady and Angel were silent for a while and they gestured a confirmation to each other. They also look towards Nozomi who seems to approve of what they are going to speak about.

"If that's the case then..." Lady pauses.

"If we have to say… we both really like her, even though she was too strict sometimes. I still remember the time she dragged both of us into the training room. It was so hard to reject her..." Angel continued.

"But we don't hate her for that. We are who we are right now because of her and we're really glad. We wish that we could train with her again..." Lady said.

Eli smiled faintly at them.

"I see... thank you..." she said.

"Actually, there's a chat history that we saved in our room. We have never shown this to anyone, not even Nozomi-chan..." Angel said.

"Angel...are you sure about this?" Lady asked.

"There's something that bothers me from last night. Something that I really want Eli-chan and Nozomi-chan to see..." Angel replied.

"Ah, you mean that, huh? If you're sure that you can talk about this, then go on. I won't stop you..."

"What is this chat you want us to see?" Nozomi asked.

"Hmm...I'll send it to your Digivice. Hold on..." Angel stood up and began to search.

They had to wait for a while...

"Honestly, I feel like there may not be that much meaning at all...but since Angel was sure then..." Lady said.

"Just show it." Eli said.

"Alright, here we go!" Angel said.

Eli's digivice received a message notification.

 _ **Angel :**_

 _ **Kuzunoha :**_ _Tomorrow, you two will have to do some running exercise with me._

 _ **Lady :**_ _Aahhh... why can't we just sleep?_

 _ **Angel :**_ _Kuzu-chan is on it again! Nooo!_

 _ **Kuzunoha :**_ _I don't really have that much time, you know. I got an S-Rank Tournament tomorrow. I'll make sure Eli will get her S-Rank, that's why I need a lot of exercise—a pair of pretty companions would be nice._

 _ **Angel :**_ _Ok! Then we're definitely meet your requirement!_

 _ **Lady :**_ _Angel, you're too innocent. She didn't call you 'pretty' for nothing._

 _ **Angel :**_ _Hey, it's a compliment though!_

 _ **Lady :**_ _Still! But anyway… alright, I'll be awake tomorrow morning._

 _ **Kuzunoha :**_ _You're a pretty strange Virus Digimon. Are you sure you're a Virus?_

 _ **Lady :**_ _Well, are you sure you are a Data?!_

 _ **Kuzunoha :**_ _Last time I checked in the mirror, I'm still beautiful._

 _ **Lady :**_ _Oh Shut up! That's not even related to what I said!_

 _ **Angel :**_ _By the way! By The way! I heard that Kuzuhamon like Kuzu-chan can predict the future. Are you able to do that?_

 _ **Kuzunoha :**_ _Maybe?_

 _ **Angel :**_ _Then-then, will we both become good Mega Digimon like you?!_

 _ **Kuzunoha :**_ _Hmm..._

 _ **Lady :**_ _I don't like where this is going..._

 _ **Angel :**_ _I'm excited!_

 _ **Angel :**_ _Kuzu-chan?_

 _ **Lady :**_ _Did she fall asleep? It's pretty late after all..._

 _ **Angel :**_ _Kuzu-chaaan! Don't leave us hanging like this!_

 _ **Lady :**_ _She definitely fell asleep..._

 _ **Kuzunoha :**_ _Sorry, was a little occupied with something..._

 _ **Angel :**_ _Did you try to predict our future?_

 _ **Kuzunoha :**_ _I definitely did._

 _ **Angel :**_ _How was iiittt?_

 _ **Kuzunoha :**_ _I see a lot of wings there, dark ones and bright ones. You two will definitely become a pair of great mega Digimon! You might even be better than I am!_

 _ **Angel :**_ _Really? Woooo! I'm happy!_

 _ **Lady :**_ _Huh? What is this? Why do we suddenly get 'Might even be better than I am' from the snobby Kuzu-chan?_

 _ **Kuzunoha :**_ _Haha! By the way, plans changed. I think you two can take a break tomorrow. I'm going to meditate instead._

 _ **Angel :**_ _ok! Do you need us both stand around you and be pretty?_

 _ **Kuzunoha :**_ _I'm afraid not. That will only distract me._

 _ **Angel :**_ _ok! Then we stand behind you!_

 _ **Kuzunoha :**_ _Haha, Angel, forget what I said. Maybe you do need to run, after all._

 _ **Lady :**_ _Good Job Angel._

 _ **Angel :**_ _Eh? Did I do something wrong?_

 _ **Kuzunoha :**_ _Joking! But yes, forget about accompanying me in my morning training. I'm going to meditate to raise my magic._

 _ **Lady :**_ _Ooohhh...I see! You're looking at your flaws in the future and hurrying to fix what you might do wrong, huh? Clever._

 _ **Angel :**_ _Ahh! You predicted your own future as well? Are you going to win?_

 _ **Kuzunoha :**_ _Winning or Losing is not my concern right now. All I care about is to taking Eli to the S-Rank._

 _ **Lady :**_ _But you need to win to take her to the S-Rank..._

 _ **Kuzunoha :**_ _Theoretically, yes._

 _ **Lady :**_ _So what is this future you're seeing, exactly?_

 _ **Kuzunoha :**_ _Never mind that. Just go to bed, you two. I'd be checking on you two to make sure you go running._

 _ **Angel :**_ _Good Night!_

 _ **Lady :**_ _Huh? That's weird. Are you sure you don't need to talk about this?_

 _ **Kuzunoha :**_ _I'm fine._

 _ **Lady :**_ _You don't sound 'fine' you know._

 _ **Angel :**_ _Are you nervous? I'm going to cheer for you tomorrow, then!_

 _ **Lady :**_ _Angel, please..._

 _ **Kuzunoha :**_ _Just remember this: no matter you struggle, you two have to work the hardest for your tamer, stay united, and be strong. Love your tamer, protect her, and grow with her._

 _ **Lady :**_ _You sound like you're about to die or something._

 _ **Angel :**_ _I'll revive!_

 _ **Lady :**_ _You can't die in a tournament..._

 _ **Angel :**_ _Right!_

 _ **Lady :**_ _Kuzu-chan, are you sure you are fine? Are you drunk?_

 _ **Angel :**_ _Kuzu-chan?_

 _ **Kuzunoha :**_ _Please keep these words for me, I know someone will read this._

 _ **Kuzunoha :**_ _Do not abandon those who love you as much as you love your greatest treasure._

 _ **Kuzunoha :**_ _It may be hard to move on, but I don't want you to stay in the past._

 _ **Kuzunoha :**_ _She may not be 'me', but she is 'part of me'..._

 _ **Kuzunoha :**_ _If you raise her, you are giving me a reason to exist in your life again._

And the chat ended there.

"That's pretty much it, we've kept a hold of this chat for a while now, not sure of when the right time is but... last night, Renamon asked both of us to help her with a speech—we couldn't do much for her, but we're touched by her effort..." Angel explained.

Everyone in the room could see how Eli looked so touched by the chat. Her hands slightly trembled and her eyes are watery—she is trying so hard to look fine. Even Nozomi felt somewhat sad, but she was not quite sure of how to describe this situation with words as she isn't quite sure of what was behind those words.

"Hmm...So...Kuzunoha already knew about her death, yet she entered the tournament anyway?" Nozomi tried to confirm.

Lady and Angel nodded

"I think she was too occupied with the idea of taking you to the S-Rank and forgot that she is a lot more important than the S-Rank..." Lady said.

"No...it's not that..." Angel said.

"What is it then?" Lady asked.

"Ah—Angel, you ran into the ring and tried to revive her, right? But it didn't work out?" Nozomi asked.

"Yes, when I revive a Digimon, I'm usually able to recover their consciousness data within them But, that time, I wasn't able to do that because her data was shattered completely...it's like something massive was ruining her data."

"Were you somehow able to read a few memory data, though?"

"Yes... I think I've heard her say, she wanted to stop the tamer that time than let him take more innocent lives."

"Hmm..I see where her idea comes from. The S-Rank Tournament is always exposed to the entire server so, if it happens there, then everyone will see. Plus, the Digimon who used the hacked card was strong enough to beat the rest its opponents in that tournament. Kuzu-chan had to be there to expose this tamer so that he launched his plans..." Lady said.

"Putting that aside, Eli-chan, are we going to train your Renamon now? After you read those...?" Angel asked.

Lady and Nozomi finally realized what Angel actually wanted. Their eyes were set on Eli who is still quiet as she looked over the chat in her Digivice.

"Hehe, I see what you truly intended to do, Angel... we talked about that last night..." Nozomi said.

"Oh...? So I'm a bit late with my attempt, I guess?" Angel asked.

"Not quite, we did plan to work out today, I just haven't really talked to you two about it...so I guess your urge to do this comes at the right time."

"Is that so? Then I'm glad!" Angel replied cheerfully.

Nozomi leaned a little closer to her girlfriend,

"So how about it, Ericchi? Should we head to the Digital World now?"

Eli is still quiet...

"We may have missed this week's champion tournament, but we can try next week if we are confident enough..." Lady said.

"I'm sure Renamon will be able to do it! I'll cheer for her!" Angel said.

The Blonde nodded with a faint smile. As soon as Eli opened her mouth to reveal her decision, a notification popped out from Nozomi's Digivice.

"Eh? Who's this? I see someone sent a private message in the Digivice..." Lady said.

Nozomi immediately opened the Notification...

 _ **[PM] Kotori :**_ _Nozomi-senpai! Uh...Are you still in the council room? It took a while for me to decide if I should try to visit you there or...uh...meet you somewhere else? Uhm...Actually...Can you help me decide now anyway?_

Nozomi took a moment to remember what kind of business she has with her.

"What kind of business do you have with the Principal's daughter, Nozomi?" Eli asked—her mood seemed to change drastically from mellow to cautious.

"Hmm... I'm trying to remember what she was interested on...I remember she was almost a client and..." Nozomi is lost in her thought again.

"Could it be you promised her something if she was able to find you?" Eli asked to help her jog her memory up.

"Ah—right! that was it! She wanted to browse on my cards collection!"

"You need to stop doing that, ok? The last time you challenged a popular girl from UTX in this _hide-and-seek_ game, she also invited a whole bunch of fans and I had trouble keeping them disciplined. Even the Principal complained to me... you should start doing that in Digital world instead..."

"Hehe, it's much more fun to do that in real world... they can't use the digivice to find me." Nozomi replied as she wrote back to Kotori.

Eli sighed at her,

"Ah well, at least the principal's daughter isn't as popular as she looks..."

"You stole all the girls' hearts in this school, Ericchi… don't worry..." Nozomi replied jokingly.

Then, within a minute, someone suddenly opened the council room doors...

"Hey, Eli, Nozomi, you have guests..." a black haired little girl said as she entered the room like she is used to coming over to the council room.

Eli and Nozomi turn to face the door—Lady and Angel inside the digivice screen also gave their attention to the guests.

"E-Excuse me?" Kotori said a little nervously as she entered the room followed by Umi and Honoka.

"Ah, welcome..." Nozomi said.

"Ehehe...t-thanks?" Kotori replied. Her eyes stayed on the Blonde's penetrating cold eyes.

"U-Umi Sonoda! Please take care of me!" Umi suddenly introduced herself as she bowed.

"W-wah—Umi-chan! D-Don't act like that. Y-you make me feel nervous!" Kotori said.

"I'm Honoka Kousaka! Nice to meet you!" Honoka said a little stiffly before she bowed as well...

"H-Honoka-chan! Not you too!" Kotori said—before suddenly the cold stare made her shiver too and...

"K-Kotori Minami! I'm sorry for interrupting your activity!" she bowed.

Niko rolled her eyes, Eli doesn't seem to be welcoming while Nozomi cringed a little .

"Oi-oi, Eli isn't that scary, ok? It's just her face..." Niko said.

"What's with my face?" Eli asked.

"Nothing, I just think they're scared to look at your face. You never smile..." Niko said.

"I don't understand the point of smiling when it's not necessary..." Eli replied.

"Putting that aside, Nikocchi, Ericchi… They're my clients, so let's get down to business, shall we?"

"A-Aah...r-right...we have business..." Kotori said.

Eli didn't respond and Niko sighed weakly at them...

"So, Kotori-chan, since you have found me anyway, what kind of item would you like to have right now?"

"E-Eh...? I get to choose what I want?" Kotori asked.

"Yep, don't worry about the price. Even if it's too expensive, Ericchi can pay for them." Nozomi said.

"Oi-oi, that's a bad example! If you want to give something away, then use your own money..." Niko said.

"I honestly don't mind. Nozomi can take anything from me..." Eli said.

"Huh? Now you act like you're her husband or something..." Niko said.

"I've always shared everything with her...it's not that weird" Eli replied.

"That's still a bad example, ok? You two should have some more privacy..." Niko said.

"Don't worry about that, Nikocchi...what we do privately is our business." Nozomi said.

Niko sighed heavily

"Alright..." she said with a smirk.

"So..back to you, Kotori-chan. Have you got any request?" Nozomi asked again

"Uh...alright...mm... I...I want to upgrade my digivice? Would that be possible?"

"Which upgrade are you after?" Nozomi asked.

"Aaaah—uuhhh...I'm conflicted about that too!" the ash brunette replied nervously.

"Umi-chan! Honoka-chan! Help me out!" she said as she turned to her friends.

"H-Honestly, we don't know about Digivice Upgrades that much... Are they different from each other?" Umi asked.

"Uh...and maybe, what do you need it for?" Honoka added.

"Aaah—That's what I've been wondering too! I don't know what I need!" Kotori said.

Honoka and Umi scratched their head awkwardly. Nozomi smiled at them while Eli sighed and Niko just looked at them tiredly.

"Maybe you can hand over your digivice to Ericchi and she can help you decide?" Nozomi suggested.

"I-is it ok to do that?!" Kotori asked.

"Yeah, just hand her your Digivice, she will take a good look at it..." Nozomi said.

"O...ok..." Kotori replied before she took out her digivice and handed it over to the blonde.

It made her heart beat so fast—she knew she could be lectured again if she happened to mess up.

Waiting for her to make a comment is like waiting for a time bomb to explode. Kotori hid her hands behind her with fingers crossed. Umi and Honoka are curiously looking at what exactly Eli is checking, though her hands are agile, and they barely understand what this and that are for.

"This is pretty good..." Eli said.

Kotori breathed out in relief.

"But..."

She is tensed up once again when she heard the blonde's emphasized word.

"Very bad for anyone who's planning to evolve Biyomon to Phoenixmon..."

"E-Eehh? How do you know that I'm planning to make Phoenixmon?"

"Who else are you after if not Phoenixmon? That's the only possible line when you pick Birdramon along with all these support cards you collected. If you're after Parrotmon, then you probably need to sell all these worthless support cards or exchange them with more offense cards."

"Aaah...ahaha..is it about her status...?"

"Exactly. It's true that you are raising from Biyomon, who bases her attack from Physical Attack Power, but you should've focused on Magic Attack Power since, later on, all your supportive skills and attacks will be based on that. Then, you could focus on raising her speed, but it's better if you spend your time training her on Health and Stamina. You can always get extra speed from Digivice Upgrades and cards which are enough for you to stall any type of enemy on your own. The best support is the one who could survive longer in the battle field."

"W-waah... You really are an expert!" Kotori appreciated

Eli doesn't seem to be pleased by the compliment—or perhaps she just doesn't care enough to respond to it. Either way, Kotori really appreciate what Eli told her and while Umi seems to be somewhat fired up from listening to such an expert speaking to her friend.

Suddenly, the door of the council room opened wide—smacking Honoka who had been standing near it...

"Council! This is an emergency!" shouted a familiar person—very familiar to the third years...

"Tsubasa...?" Eli and Nozomi raised their eyebrows and Niko's jaw dropped.

"Council! I triggered the mob! Now they're after me! Please calm them down before my companions fall!" Tsubasa said.

"Huh? Why are you here anyway?" Eli asked.

"I'm here to pick up my crush!"

"You have a crush here? I'm surprised. I thought you got all the cute girls already..."

"That is not the concern right now, Council! Just come and help us!" Tsubasa said before she pulled Eli away with her.

"W-wait! Hey!"

Kotori, Umi and Nozomi remained silent. Niko's mouth still hung open while Angel and Lady, who had been watching them, blinked their eyes, wondering what exactly was happening there.

The door closed again slowly—and it took a while for them to realize that Honoka was right behind the door and was probably dizzy from the hit.

"H-Honoka-chan!" They shouted together before they finally rushed to help her.

* * *

The Otonokizaka Health Center Room;

Honoka finally woke up. She had no idea that she was in the health center room but, as her brain finally processed the situation...

"Wwaaahh!" she exclaimed.

"W-what's wrong, Honoka-chan?!" Kotori who was sitting next to her asked.

"Why am I in the health center?"

"Uh... you got hit... by a door..." Kotori replied.

"A door? Hmmm..." she tried to remember...

"Aaah! You're right! I got hit by a door!" she continued.

"But who opened the door?" Honoka asked.

"It was Tsubasa-san..." Kotori said

"Eeeeh!? Ok...I guess she didn't see me?"

"Well..." Kotori laughed awkwardly,

"She didn't. She came all the way here along with her fans—and dragged a few fans from Otonokizaka too...it was a big mess until the council worked it out…"

"Oh..."

"But after that, she finally realized that you were hit. She overreacted a bit but Umi-chan was able to handle that. Nozomi-senpai also helped them out but, apparently, no one can stop Tsubasa-chan from trying to do what she was trying to do..."

"E-Eh? Ok...uhm..what was she trying to do?"

"She said she wanted to apologize to you so she is now attempting to buy everything you like..."

"W-what? Everything I like? Uh...how does she even know?"

"I have no idea too! We just met but it feels like she knows everything about you..."

"Ooh...ok..."

"There's also something else that bothers me...but...I guess you shouldn't know..."

"Why?"

"Uhm...it's kind of private, I mean... maybe you should hear it out from her instead of from me..."

Honoka remained silent, still wondering about what exactly she shouldn't hear from Kotori...

* * *

Meanwhile, in Shops near school;

"So, she likes this as well?" Tsubasa asked the bluenette as she looked at a big box of bread.

"She certainly eats this too—but for real, this is already too much!" Umi stated.

"She is right, Tsubasa. Just...stop...buying her... _stuff_..." Erena said.

"My-my, isn't this romantic?" Anjuu said.

"It certainly is. Ericchi also often buys me a lot of things—I just need to ask and she will get it in a second!" Nozomi replied.

"Don't you just feel...ashamed...for asking this sort of thing from someone?!" Niko complained.

"I'll be honest. I always feel proud to be able to buy something for someone I'm very close with." Eli said.

"See? That's why I made sure to have a wish list every month...except, sometimes, Ericchi is a little too stingy..." Nozomi said.

"That's because you're asking for the impossible, silly. It's true that I have plenty of income from Digimon Online—but for real, I still wouldn't be able to purchase a house or a truck... We're not even of legal age!" Eli said.

"You would've been a billionaire if you didn't spend too much on expensive chocolate." Nozomi said.

"Well—there's nothing wrong with spoiling myself..." Eli replied.

"Three hundred thousand yen for a pound of Chocolate ball is crazy!" Nozomi said.

"W-what?! T-Three Hundred thousand yen?!" Niko exclaimed.

"Ahh...could it be... Chocopologie?" Anjuu asked.

"I don't care about the name...it's an imported good. She didn't buy it on a daily basis, thank god...but it's too expensive even though it truly is delicious." Nozomi replied.

"Doesn't anyone think it's worth mentioning that Nozomi-san asked for a truck?" Erena asked

"Yes...what is the truck for..." Umi smirked.

"I didn't really ask for a truck, I was asking for the Mobile Home. Ericchi called it a truck. She is that dense."

"Mobile Home? You mean, a car with a living area? A trailer?" Anjuu asked.

"Yep, whatever it is called..." Nozomi said.

"It sounds fun!" Anjuu said.

"I agree! That sounds fun! We should change our limousine..." Tsubasa said.

"That's not even yours! That's our agency's car!" Erena said.

"We can always...you know...ask..." Tsubasa said.

"We're not going to do that, Tsubasa!" Erena said.

"Maybe we should ask Honoka..." Tsubasa said again.

"You're not going to do that! Let's just go back to Otonokizaka and actually pick her up instead of spending your money for everything! Also, we may need to Log in soon! I promised my Ryuudamon to hunt some extra meat in the market today!" Erena said as she pulled Tsubasa away.

"W-waiiitt! Erennnaaaa! I want to buy that box of bread too!"

Umi sighed as she followed them.

"Tch...I don't even know how Honoka could attract someone like Tsubasa..." Niko said.

"Are you jealous?" Anjuu asked.

"Huh? No way... maybe... but eh—for real, what did she do to make Tsubasa that interested?"

"I wouldn't know about that, why don't you ask them yourself?" Anjuu said.

"Could it be... Love at the first sight?" Nozomi said.

"Maybe? I don't know. All I know is that Tsubasa has been obsessed about getting to know this Honoka..."

"Huh? Ok... guess I'd have to find out myself..." Niko said.

* * *

 **That's all for now! Thanks for reading!**


	5. Ch5 : Birth of Dream

**Here goes! Next chapter!**

 **Thanks to LightRiver33 For edits!**

 **Thanks for reviews/comment/faves/follows!**

 **Also, I'm still waiting for the chapters of Fading Whisper to be edited by Crimson. She is currently overwhelmed by her school stuff. Thanks for the patience!**

* * *

Elite Group A-Rise's Hall — Digital World;

A-Rise gave them all a ride to the Digital World in the car they brought and welcomed them to their hall. Honoka, Umi, Kotori and Niko are very astonished by the luxurious objects around them while Eli is trying hard to not show how intrigued she really is. Nozomi is the only one who seems the least interested but the chat in her digivice is probably what was distracting her.

"Sorry that we had to greet you with such an incident..." Tsubasa said—her voice suddenly reflectsher charisma and mannerism, though she is also pulling Honoka around like a child.

"This is embarrassing..." Erena whispered to Anjuu.

"Don't worry, Erena, I'm sure Tsubasa knows what she is doing..."

"...as you can see, this is our elite hall. You might feel alienated with these, but after you train your Digimon enough, you will get to know each of items here..." Tsubasa explained to Honoka who seems to be totally clueless about everything she is saying.

"...as an Elite Group, we have plenty of facilities, such as, our personal Digi-lab, personal Portal, and, as you already know, a personal vehicle..." Tsubasa continued.

"That's cool!" Honoka said.

"Really? You think so?"

"Yup! Hehe... although, I don't really know what Digi-Lab is for..." Honoka said.

"The Digilab is where you can junction your Digimon—if you're not within the Elite Club, you will have to queue with the rest of people. You can find the public Digi-lab by the lobby..." Erena said.

"Or try go to another city and see if the queue there isn't as long as in the main city..." Anjuu added.

"Aah...I see... but what kind of 'junction' we're talking about here?" Honoka asked again.

"Remember about the enchantment thing, Honoka-chan? That's one of things you can do in the lab..." Kotori said.

"Yes, it's exactly junctioning your Digimon with the enchantment drive. It will take a lot of money to be able to successfully enhance your Digimon and S-Rank tamers are getting them at better prices than the other tamers. It will also be better if they joined the Elite Club..." Erena said.

"Also, you can erase your Digimon evolution in the Digilab. You would spend some money but it's better than having to upgrade the Memory Chip... and most people erase their Digimon Evolution because they evolved into something they don't want." Anjuu added.

"There's also a feature where you can give your Digimon a chip-set. A chip-set is like their equipment and you can get them through adventures or by purchasing from merchants or vendors..." Tsubasa said.

"Uh...is that like, when we kill a digimon and they drop an item?" Honoka asked.

"Kill? Not quite. Maybe it looked you we're killing a Digimon but you don't really kill them. Their data are just consumed by your digimon, which makes them physically stronger—but it does not improve their skill. That's why training is still required to make a perfect Digimon." Tsubasa said.

"C-Consuming?" Umi blinked rapidly in her shock.

"Don't worry. Just like what everyone always say, the wild ones are like zombies—they act but they don't think… They just move. That's why we are here to help the Digital World raise the quality of inhabitants..." Anjuu said.

"Please also remember that you're not allowed to be bad to other tamers...except when you're in an Elite Group. The Elite Group's actions are always approved or ignored by the official. They say that the consequences affect their fame." Erena said.

"Many Elite Groups chase after fame, but some prefer to be infamous." Anjuu added.

"Yes, and the official also says that even if an Infamous Elite group remains infamous, as long they do not break the official rules, it is fine for then to continue..." Erena said.

"I see..." Umi replied.

"Famous groups are able to get special items from the official's store but the infamous are known for buying special items from the black market. Alas, having transactions in the Black Market always hurts your group reputation..."

"It sounds like an Elite Group is a very fun thing to have.." Honoka said.

"It is, Honoka! That's why if—..."

Before Tsubasa was able to finish her statement...

"Kotori-chan! Umi-chan!" Honoka exclaimed loudly.

"Yes, Honoka-chan?" Kotori replied.

"Let's work some more and make our own Elite group!" Honoka said.

"H-Huh?!" Umi raises her voice. A-rise is surprised to hear it as well.

"Uuh...H-Honoka-chan... are you not... taking the hints?" Kotori asked as she glanced to the dumbfounded Tsubasa.

"Eh...what hints?" Honoka asked innocently.

"Uhhhmmmm..." Kotori still glancing at Tsubasa who is now smiling widely.

"That sounds fun, Honoka!" Tsubasa said cheerfully.

"E-Ehh...?" Kotori blinked in her confusion.

"We will be allies when you get there! Or perhaps rivals? I can't wait to fight you in a Tournament one day!" Tsubasa said.

"Really? Then you think I'll be a strong tamer?!" Honoka asked.

"Yup! Totally! Now, should we go on an adventure to help you practice?!" Tsubasa asked.

"Ok!" Honoka replied.

Then the two ran out of the hall—leaving everything else in the room unexplained.

"H-Honoka!" Umi ran after her.

"W-waitt! Umi-chaaan!" Kotori followed.

Erena and Anjuu would have run after them too but they remembered that there are still three other people left in the room.

Eli, Nozomi, and Niko were listening to them the whole time, though they did not comment.

"I guess Tsubasa is really bent on doing thing her way right now..." Anjuu said.

"Who would've expected that Honoka to be that similar to her...?" Erena said.

"Hehe. That's good… though it means that no one will ever be able to stop them..." Anjuu said.

"Tch...what's with that though, suddenly acting so cute together..." Niko said.

"My, Nikocchi, you need to be less jelly and start finding your own Sugar Momma..." Nozomi said.

"The heck are you saying?!" Niko complained.

"By the way, Ayase-san..." Erena turned to Eli.

Eli only turned her face a bit,

"...You are an S-Rank , right?" Erena asked.

"Yes, what about it?" Eli replied.

"Why don't you join us? We know about your Digimon and we don't mind helping you take care of her..." Erena said.

"No thanks… I'm not going to join any Elite Group before Nozomi reaches S-Rank..." Eli replied.

"Then what about you, Toujou-san? We know you're not an S-Rank yet but you and your... 'husband' here are very promising." Anjuu said as she glanced to Eli with her playful smile.

"Me...? Hmm... I think I want to take my time thinking about it..." Nozomi replied.

"It will be such a waste for us to not recruit a person with that much luck like you...or a person with that much skill in raising a Digimon like Ayase-san. That's why, if you two happen to change your mind, our doors are always open for you two..." Erena said.

"Sure..." Eli replied with less enthusiasm.

"That's too bad though..." Niko said with her smug face,

"...I wouldn't mind joining A-Rise anytime...I know I'm such a promising—..."

"I should go ahead to the Tournament Hall. I have a beauty contest to enter with my Lalamon..." Anjuu said—completely ignoring Niko who wasn't even able to finish her statement.

"Ah, you're right, I can't let Ryuudamon wait for too long too. We should get going..." Erena said.

"Alright. Ericchi and I will go do our own business as well..." Nozomi said.

"Let's go Nozomi..." Eli said before she held Nozomi's hand gently and pulled her away.

Erena and Anjuu also took their leave. Niko is left alone.

"Sheesh...people are so busy lately..." she said with a smirk on her face,

"Maybe I should just continue selling my goods..." she continued.

Before she was able to do anything else, though, Nozomi returned.

"Come on, Nikocchi, you're coming with us..."

"W-What the heck!? I don't wanna go and watch you doing lovey-dovey whatsoever with Eli!"

"I'll match you with a potential sugar momma..."

"The heck is that?!"

* * *

Meanwhile, The Beginner Ground—Digital World;

"Good job, Lunamon!" The red-haired tamer cheered as the rabbit-like Digimon hopped back after defeating a small digimon.

"Looks like we're getting better!" Hanayo said as she pat her flowerbud-like Digimon who just returned from battle as well.

"That was fun! hehe!" Rin said as she and Gaomon joined them.

"Yeah, maybe we should take a little break for a bit now... then perhaps try to find tougher one after?" Hanayo said

"You're right..." Maki said as she sat down on the grassy field. The sky is so bright and everything else looks so… digitally beautiful.

There were unusual circuit patterns covering the rock walls, trees actually look alive with all the light carved inside it, bushes grow with strangely unique and charming flowers, and the clouds hovering above have a strange sky pattern.

"Come to think of it..." Maki started as both of her friends and their digimon sat down to rest.

"This place is so beautiful; I wonder how the graphic designers do it..."

"… must be through a real hard work." Hanayo said.

"What is a graphic designer?" Lalamon asked.

"Uh, they're people who produces graphical objects, I guess?" Maki said.

"Hehe, but they could be called artists too, if they're also the one who conceives the idea." Hanayo said.

"What's the difference between an artist and a designer...?" Maki asked.

"Designer are the ones who execute the design. It could be a structure, a pattern, a work of art or machines while artist are those who produce works in any of art forms that are primarily subject to aesthetic criteria. It also means that Artists design their own work and Designers don't always execute their own ideas..." Hanayo explained.

"Then—what if someone create a Fan Art? Does that mean that someone is a designer-nya?" Rin asked.

"Hehe. Then that does mean someone is an artist and a designer. As I said before, Artists create an idea, even though someone is making a fan-art, that someone is still the one who came up with the idea of making the character do something or looking like something else" Hanayo replied.

"It's still a little vague for me. Can you help me with by giving an example of a designer that is not an artist?" Maki asked.

"Hmm... you can't say that a designer isn't an artist because there will always be art in every design. But..." Hanayo took a moment to think...

"Let's just say this, this place is created from a concept—which is created by the artist or concept artist, then the designer will execute his or her idea...does that help?"

Maki tried to absorb the knowledge but it seems that she is still somewhat confused.

"I still don't get it too-nya! But it's ok! Let's just change the topic!" Rin said.

"Hehe. I guess that's better!" Hanayo replied with a gentle smile.

"Anywaayy!" Lunamon yelled.

"Yes, Lunamon?" Hanayo replied to her.

"Let's train some more! I want to be the artist of my own power!" Lunamon said.

"W-what?! What the hell is 'artist of your own power'?!" Maki shouted.

"You'll be my designer, so you better train me like how I want myself to be like!" Lunamon continued.

"Erh...ok?" Maki raises her eyebrow.

"L-looks like Lunamon gets it..." Hanayo said.

"Get what-nya?" Rin asked.

"Nevermind, let's continue—..."

But before Hanayo able to finish...

A gigantic, deep scarlet, mechanical dinosaur-like digimon with huge canon on its back appeared.

"W-what the heck!?" Maki exclaimed.

"What is that-nya?" Rin said as she and Gaomon stared at it curiously.

"U-uh..." Hanayo presses something in her Digivice,

 _Rust Tyranomon (Lv142 / 225%)_

 _Type : Virus_

 _Attribute : Machine_

 _Owner : Kira Tsubasa_

 _Personality : Defender_

"L-looks like it's owned by someone...w-wait...Kira Tsubasa?! Tha-Th-that's...!" Hanayo pauses.

"Kira Tsubasa...? Who?" Maki asked.

"Yeah, who the heck is Kira-Tsubasa-nya?" Rin asked.

"That's the A-Rise Leader! An idol too! She is one of my reasons for playing this game!" Hanayo said in panic.

"O..oh...so she's an important person, huh?" Maki said less enthusiastically.

"W-waaahh! Her Digimon is so huge...what is she doing in the beginner field though-nya?" Rin asked.

Soon as she asked the question, they could all hear someone shouting from somewhere around the gigantic digimon.

"Honokaaaa! Are you readdyyyy?!"

Then the three could see a ginger-haired girl running across from them with a yellow Lizard-like Digimon—followed by a lot of angry baby digimon...

"Ayeeeeee!" shouted the ginger-haired girl who stood far away from any wall or person.

"Ok! Let's Shock the party!"

The shout is followed by a large electromagnetic force that exploded on the ginger girl and the angry digimon.

"W-wow...is she going to be fine...?" Maki said as she watched the dark clouds surrounding her.

"uuh...well...I just read that yesterday... we're all protected by a program that will not allow any Digimon's attack to harm us— also, other tamers can't hurt another's digimon if not in duel mode..." Hanayo said.

"So...basically...she is fine?" Maki asked to confirm.

No one replied since they all could see the answer themselves. The ginger girl and the yellow-lizard-like Digimon are perfectly fine.

"That was awesome, Tsubasa-chan!" she said.

"Really?" Tsubasa looked so excited.

"Yep! I reached level 20 in instant!" the yellow lizard-like Digimon said.

As soon as they see her running to the Rust Tyranomon, they also realized that they're not alone. There is a familiar figure who stood with a bluenette whose fists were clenched.

"Isn't that Kotori-senpai?" Hanayo asked.

"Yeah..." Maki replied.

"I wonder what she is up to-nya...?" Rin asked.

Once again, they didn't have to wait for an answer because they all could see and hear what's going on...

"Someone...please help me stop them..." the bluenette said.

There's a penguin-like digimon standing next to her with concerned face.

"I-It's ok...Umi-chan, they're having fun!" Kotori said. Biyomon is standing next to her with an awkward smile.

"They should've done this in another place...I mean, look at that dinosaur! We could've done something like what we did with the birds! It makes no sense that we're here to clean up what the beginners could use!" the bluenette said somewhat angrily.

"I-it's ok...Umi-chan! T-they're going to respawn!"

Then suddenly, a long black shadow passes across them. When they all looked up, they could see a bronze and gold armored long dragon with wings holding a black blade as his weapon—gold battle mask, cloud aura all over him, and a maroon-haired girl riding on his head.

Hanayo tried to identify the dragon out of curiosity.

 _Owryumon (Lv143 / 223%)_

 _Type : Vaccine_

 _Attribute : Nature_

 _Owner : Erena Toudou_

 _Personality : Fighter_

"E-Erena Toudou?!" Hanayo panicked again.

"Who the heck is that, Kayo-chin?"

"Another important person?" Maki said with her lazy voice.

"T-the most feared A-rise member, everyone always talks about her!" Hanayo continued.

"Oh...sounds...interesting?" Maki replied.

"Tsubasa! I realized that maybe I shouldn't let you do things by yourself!"

"Oooh! Erena! I thought you went to do something else!"

"We were certainly about to—but we both realized that we can't let you two do it your way!" Owryumon replied.

"Hmmph! Owryumon! You do realize that you're talking to me as well, huh?" Rust Tyranomon said.

"I do—and I mean it! Now you better get back to your rookie form or move to a different place!" Owryumon said.

"You can't tell me what to do!" Rust Tyranomon said.

"We can!" Owryumon set his battle stance.

"Just like what Owryumon said, we can!" Erena said as she pressed a button on her digivice.

"A duel invitation? Sure...this is going to be fun!" Tsubasa said before both of their Digimon was surrounded by bright circling aura.

"Haaaa! Eiseiryuuoujin!" Owryumon fired an attack from his blades.

"Terror Cluster!" Rust Tyranomon extended his gun battery on his back, firing the same large electromagnetic blast like before.

Then the fight continued with a few other moves that aren't called out.

"What is this? Wrestling show?" Maki smirked.

Lunamon crossed its tiny arm and one of her ears go down—showing how uninterested she is.

"T-this is an epic fight, Maki-chan!" Hanayo said.

Lalamon nodded as she slightly interested on watching the fight.

"Go-go-go-nya!" Rin encouraged. Gaomon looks somewhat excited as he keeps air-boxing while watching.

"Good Luck! Tsubasa-chan!" the ginger-haired girl shouted.

"Kotori...is it just me or... do you also think that they should not duel here?" the bluenette asked the ash brunette.

"Hehe...as long as they can finish the matter, I guess?" Kotori replied.

The bluenette only can sigh.

* * *

Far from the City of Memory—The Screen Hills, Digital World;

A thousand blocks of unknown objects that have transparent circuit walls on each of its sides shine and reflect the blue sky. The gravity is not as strong here compared to the other parts of the Digital world and everyone could almost fly if they wish to—and most importantly, they will never land roughly since there is not enough force that would cause them to smack their own face to the ground.

Nozomi, Eli, and Niko are here to start their training. Their Digimons are ready to start, as well.

Eli's Renamon evolved into a nine-tailed fox—Kyuubimon— and stands on four legs, Niko's DemiDevimon is in Soulmon form, the ghost-like digimon, and Nozomi's digimon, Angel and Lady, are in their Ultimate form—LadyDevimon and Angewomon.

"Now, we're going to start our practice..." Eli started.

Nozomi and Niko remained silent as they watched their Digimon line up in front of Eli.

"I suppose Lady and Angel already know what kind of training this place offers..." Eli said.

"Yep, speed and agility..." Lady replied with her right hand on her hips.

"Exactly, everyone can move as fast as they can here, but moving fast is not enough. I want all of you to compete—collect anything you can get and I'll grade them later in the finish line..."

"I'm ready!" Angel said cheerfully.

"W-what the heck are we going to do, though?" the Soulmon asked.

"You just need to run, jump, float, or flying, Chibby..." Nozomi said.

Lady snorted when Soulmon's nickname was called. She is trying so hard to not make her laughter obvious but it seems that Kyuubimon could see her and it makes her tilt her head, wondering what exactly made her laugh.

"Anything then?" Chibby asked.

"Yep, anything. You can even crawl if you like, if that's your fastest way to move, of course..." Nozomi said.

"Alright, I'm in..." Chibby said somewhat eagerly.

"Are you ready?" Angel asked Kyuubimon.

"M-Me...?" Kyuubimon replied nervously.

"Good luck!" Angel said—and even though it was just a friendly banter, Kyuubimon feels like something is tingling along her spine. It's so bad that she began to feel even more nervous.

"Ready...!" Eli shouted, All the Digimon are setting themselves on ready position except for Kyuubimon who is still nervous. It took her a few second late to realize that she needs to get ready as well.

"Set—!" Eli continued.

All the Digimon prepared to dash.

"Go!"

And while everyone started ahead, Kyuubimon ran off a few second late again. Even during the dashes, she is the one who takes the last place. Angel and Lady are flying way ahead while Chibby floats and passes through all obstacles—thanks to her ghostly body.

Kyuubimon struggled to hasten herself, though compared to Lady and Angel or Chibby who are just going straight away, she is still nothing. She can't even get any closer even though she tried to run as fast as she could.

The time passes while the four Digimon dash through the less-gravity field. Kyuubimon still couldn't surpass anyone—alas, she can't even see anyone again.

This is really bad for her...

Really-really bad...

She already knows that she was too arrogant when she decided to enter the rookie tournament by herself...

She also already knows that she is nothing compared to the previous digimon that Eli trained.

But this just adds to the humiliation...

She can't beat anyone...

She can't surpass anyone...

Her victory was nothing...

She is _really_ nothing...

It's so embarrassing...

All the talk she did in the video that she sent to Eli before...

She couldn't prove it...

She couldn't prove to Eli that she is doing her best...

This is not her best...

She knows she is supposed to be able to do more than this...

That's why she struggled again—even if she has to breath too quickly, even if her legs go numb, and even if she feels like she is dying...

The road is still far from the finish line. Eli, Nozomi, and Niko are probably already there, thanks to the teleportation system in their digivice.

Obstacles began to show up along the path...

There were a lot and she had to take a few turn to be able to get through it.

From time to time, she saw Chibby passing through obstacles easily.

And Lady and Angel—do they even need to care about those obstacles?

They're gracefully flying, they don't need to care about that.

It's so unfair...

It's very unfair that she was the only one who is running and needs to go through all those obstacles.

When Kyuubimon finally decided to stop trying to be the first, She slowed down her pace and took her time to pause for a breath...

"Ridiculous... who am I to compete with these Digimon?" she mumbled...

As soon as she said it, she could feel someone catching up to her—she turn around and...

She knows...

Someone is definitely catching up to her right now...

Eli is running in a very human way, except her speed is much-much more incredible than when she is running with the stronger gravity. She passed Kyuubimon who started to realize...

Eli, a human being, could jump through the obstacle or perhaps, she is using the obstacles to jump. She looked almost like she was flying as she glides in the air so swiftly.

It isn't impossible to do if she could do it like how Eli did it...

Now that she is motivated again after watching such a strategy, she once again set herself before starting to run again.

She could see an obstacle ahead—it's a pretty high obstacle, but she assume that Eli passed through that one so she has to be able to do it as well.

When she tried to jump after a quick dash—she realized that she jumped poorly and soon, her head will hit the rough, transparent wall.

Which it actually does...

Kyuubimon fell to the ground and she swears her head is numb and she couldn't really see clearly.

, she got up again and, this time, she tried to run through the wall— like how her species do it.

People always say, her species are like ninjas with magical power. Even if she evolves, she is supposed to be as agile as the so-called ninjas.

But why not her?

Even though Eli is not even moving like an actual ninja, she is so much more agile than her.

Plus, she is not even a Digimon!

It makes her feel bad...

This pressure is too much but she wants to stop caring about that.

She wants to just keep moving forward, but she can't even pass through this obstacle.

Maybe she can just do it like how she did it before?

Take a turn...

Use the longer way...

Maybe that's the only way for her to move forward after all...

As soon as she is about to turn, someone called her out.

"Kyuubimon..." the comforting voice said.

"Nozomi...?" she replied.

"Hehe, are you tired? Let's take a break..." Nozomi said.

"But... I have to finish this..." Kyuubimon replied.

"Just take a break for a bit… it wouldn't hurt..." Nozomi replied.

Kyuubimon hesitated.

"Are you going to stand there forever?" Nozomi asked.

Kyuubimon shook her head and, instead of responding with words, she ran off.

Nozomi chuckled when she saw the fox Digimon running off like that

"People do say...like master, like their digimon..." she said as Lady and Angel landed next to her.

"Do you want us both to watch over her again?" Lady asked.

Nozomi smiled mischievously.

"Yep, and I hope you know what else to do..." she replied.

"Ok, got it!" Angel said before she flew off along with Lady.

* * *

The Beginner Ground—Digital World;

"What's done is done, Erena..." Tsubasa said proudly as she stood on top of her Rust Tyranomon.

"Tsubasa..." Erena and Owryumon look exhausted.

"W-wow... I thought Owryumon was going to win...he is vaccine..." Kotori said.

"Vaccine, Virus, Data, or free types… they are nothing to care about when you are above S-Rank. Skill is all that matters..." Tsubasa said proudly again.

"Whoaaaah! That's really-really cool!" Honoka said energetically.

"I know, right? This victory is for you!" Tsubasa said cheerfully.

"That looks really amazing..." Umi said with a smile.

"Yay! Umi-chan is enjoying it!" Honoka said.

"But..." Umi's voice suddenly becomes serious.

"Eh...?" Honoka knows this is a bad sign.

"There's something very serious we need to talk about..." Umi continued.

"W-whoaa! Tsu-Tsubasa-chan! S-Save me!" Honoka quickly distances herself.

"Ok!" Tsubasa is about to pick Honoka up with her Digimon but, suddenly, a flash of light appeared.

A lotus petal is stuck on the ground near Honoka,

"Oh no..." Erena said as her eyes lifted up to the sky. There was Anjuu sitting on the shoulder of a Digimon with Lotus crown wearing White skirt and sleeves, purple string stockings and holding a double wand.

"Tsubasa...Erena..." Anjuu called, with a strange smile on her face.

"A-Anjuu...?" Tsubasa and Erena said nervously.

"Didn't we agree that...there should be no duel outside… that place...? Remember the mess that you two caused in the city before..." Anjuu frowned, yet her lips still held a smile.

"A-Ahahah...Anjuu, I thought you went to the beauty contest today?" Erena tried to change the topic.

"Y-yeah..it will be bad for you if you don't go right now... I mean...you look really perfect now, Lotosmon!" Owryumon said.

"Well, my _entry_ got _canceled_ because I was _called_ by the official—to take care of two troublesome duellers before the officials take action...Plenty of people were complaining, you see? Even though the mess didn't hurt them, they were certainly unable to do any activity in this Beginner Ground..." Anjuu said.

"And then, Owryumon... are you saying my beauty is going to rot...?" Lotosmon said.

"N-No! Not exactly, Lotosmon!" Owryumon said.

"Yeah! Your beauty is already rotten long ago, right?" Rust Tyranomon said. Lotosmon chagrinned at Rust Tyranomon.

"I can't believe you..." Owryumon hid his face behind his swords.

"Well—it's time for us to leave, Rust Tyranomon..." Tsubasa said.

"Ok!" Rust Tyranomon said before he ran away with Tsubasa.

"Lotosmon! Don't let them get away!" Anjuu said.

"Certainly..." Lotosmon said before she operated something through Anjuu's digivice.

Erena, Tsubasa, Anjuu, and their Digimon suddenly teleported.

"Wh-whoa, they're gone!" Honoka said.

"Honoka, will you listen to me now...?" Umi said.

"E-Eh? W-what's wrong, Umi-chan?" Honoka asked.

"So many things are wrong, Honoka! You could've stopped them yet you didn't! You encouraged them! Now they got into this problem!" Umi stated clearly.

"B-but...it was really fun!"

"I know—I did enjoy it for a while until I realized that they're bothering the rest of the beginners in this area! They wanted to play, not watch two experts dueling in their grounds! Sheesh...why are you always—!""

While Umi continued lecturing Honoka, Kotori, Biyomon, Agumon and Penguinmon are watching them.

"Do they always do that?" Agumon asked.

"Uhh...sort of...?" Kotori replied.

"Seems troublesome. Maybe we should continue practicing anyway...?" Agumon asked.

"...and leave them alone...? Uh...that seems to be the best option..." Kotori said.

"Ok! Let's go practice, everyone!" Agumon said as he ran off.

"W-Whoa! Agumon! Don't wander off on your own!" Biyomon said.

Penguinmon is about to chase them, but for some reason, he seems to be hesitating.

"Aaah—uh...they got away... uh...I need to stay here to watch over these two... Uhhmm... Penguinmon! Please watch over them!" Kotori said.

"W-W-Watch over them! G-G-Got it!" Penguinmon said before he dashes toward them.

"W-whoa! He dashes! Uhm... I feel like this kind of situation is familiar..." Kotori said as she began to think for a moment...

"Ah well...hehe..." she giggled.

* * *

The Screen Hills—Digital World;

All the Digimon has reached the goal. Chibby the Soulmon reached it first, Lady and Angel are second while Kyuubimon is the third. Kyuubimon looks very exhausted—legs limp and body all sore. She worked too hard to get to reach the goal.

"Eli... aren't you a little too hard on her...?" Niko asked, looking at Kyuubimon with concern.

Eli remained silent.

"Maybe we should try to do something less hard? I mean, it's already unfair for her to be the only one who runs..." Niko continued.

"Ericchi was running all the way from there to here too...it's still possible to win this..."

The purplenette smiled faintly.

"...this was the same training that she always did with Kuzunoha before...Kuzunoha always scored the first in every form..." Nozomi continued.

"hmm..ok. But still, Albert Einstein once said: 'Everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid'" Niko said.

"That's not an excuse... Renamon and her kind are always known for their agility and wisdom..." Eli replied coldly. Her eyes are piercing deep into the exhausted fox. Lady and Angel look very concerned when they heard the sharp words.

"I didn't see this agility nor this wisdom...perhaps I should really retire from this game..." Eli said coldly, which agitated Kyuubimon.

"There! Ericchi!" Nozomi warned her.

Lady and Angel could see how Kyuubimon is trying so hard to not speak out her thought.

"...you're all talk, nothing to show for it..." Eli continued before walking away from them.

"Ericchi!" Nozomi warned her again before she ran after Eli.

Niko, Chibby, Lady and Angel are still looking at Kyuubimon. The pity in their faces might was never really intended to mock her but Kyuubimon could feel that she is very pathetic right now.

"Sheesh, that girl… can't even tone down her sharp words..." Niko complained.

"Is she always this harsh?" Chibby asked Lady and Angel.

"Well..." Lady tried to think of an answer.

"...you just have to look at the bright side..." Angel said with her sweet smile.

"Huh? Bright side? What kind of bright side can you find in this?" Niko asked.

"Hehe... this is how she loves Kyuubimon! She really wants you to be a strong Digimon, not just physically but mentally as well! I know this is harsh, but we all can do it! Nozomi-chan said so!" Angel said cheerfully.

"Angel, aren't you a little too ...you know... 'bright eyed'...or ears... I can't really see it that way..." Lady said.

"Oh! Lady! Come on! Do you remember that time when Nozomi-chan left us both in Eli-chan's hands?"

"She was smiling and...everything else... she never talked to us that harshly..." Lady said.

"Oh! It's not that part! Silly Lady! It's the part where Kuzunoha told us back then that she was always competing with Eli-chan in running through this path. She also told us the pressure is very real as she hardly wins against Eli-chan back then. Until at some point, she began to outwit and outrun her — she started to gain her confidence and, since then, Eli-chan is always smiling at her..."

"Huh? Isn't that the story of when she got her 'Kuzunoha' nickname?" Lady asked.

"It was in the same time as that story, Lady! She called her Kuzunoha since she began to win everything!" Angel said.

"Oh...alright? I don't quite remember it that way, but since you're the one who said it..." Lady scratched her head a little awkwardly.

"Either way, Kyuubimon! Don't get discouraged. Do the opposite! Keep trying until she smiles for you!" Angel said to her.

Kyuubimon nods gently before she finally succumbs to her exhaustion. She fell asleep and, perhaps, will take some time to recover fully.

* * *

The Beginner Ground—Digital World;

"Now!" The bluenette said.

"We shall do this properly, ok?" she continued as she glares at the three Digimon who just returned from their wild adventure. Agumon has a bandage attached on his head, Biyomon looked too dirty from her usual look and Penguinmon has a bruise on his left eye.

"Ehehe...hang in there everyone..." Kotori said.

Umi continued to explain her plan for practice but the digimon don't seem to pay much attention.

"This is all your fault, Agumon..." Penguinmon said.

"My fault?" Agumon replied innocently.

"Why did you drag them to us—we can't even use any area attack..." Penguinmon said.

"Now-now, you two...let's get along, ok? Hehe..." Biyomon said.

"Are you all listening to me?!" Umi stated loudly.

"Y-Yes!" the three Digimon replied.

"Good! So I suppose everyone knows what they're supposed to do!" Umi said again.

"Uhm…sorry…what are we supposed to do again?" Agumon asked.

"You need to be more disciplined!" Umi yelled as she hits Agumon's head which caused him to make a very cute throaty voice—not that he will be forgiven with that, though. Umi doesn't care about how cute they looked like—or how dorky they seem to be. She composed herself and keep her charisma on the show as she explained once more about what they need to do.

"Hhmmm…Umi-chan makes a great trainer, don't you think?" Kotori asked.

"Uh…well….." Honoka averted her gaze.

"I wonder if it's really fine for them, though?" she asked.

"Hehe… I'm sure they know that it's time for training so being rough is fine?"

"I'm a little worried, but I guess they will make it—it's Umi-chan after all… even though she shows no mercy sometimes!" Honoka said.

"Yep! Hehe… I wonder if we all can score some nice levels and training this month? If we do, we can try to join a tournament next month!" Kotori said.

"Ahh! You're right! I wonder what Agumon will turn into!"

"Hehe. Well, all you need to do is to focus on what you want him to focus on then, treat him like how you think you should be. I believe if you do all of that, you can evolve him into a very decent Digimon!"

"I hope so!" Honoka says cheerfully.

* * *

Further in the Main Server Room;

The Human and Digimon staff are working together and tending to the data that comes to their computers. Each of them are carefully reading and typing the necessary action and executing it through technologies that they possessed.

The atmosphere is calm, as usual, until one of the computers suddenly froze and showed a big red emergency alert.

"Alerting the Security! Something is wrong with the server!" said a purple dinosaur-like Digimon with fur and a fox-like tail.

"Dorumon, freeze the server and tell us what's wrong…" said a humanoid Digimon with purple armored body. He is carrying a duo-solar-spear and a black shield.

"Understood!" Dorumon ran back to his PC and quickly froze his PC's status. He returned to the humanoid mechanical digimon and started to explain…

"Craniumon, there was a strange object trying to merge with our system for the past few days. I've been trying to remove and block it but it could dodge me and began to mess up our data. The messed up data are doing an auto mass copy and paste! Then, just now, this strange object began penetrating our first defensive wall. I tried to send a few protectors but they're all slain and consumed!"

"Auto mass-copy and paste? Are you sure that's what you're telling?"

"Yes, apparently, because this object could consume any data and it is copying any object and devouring it slowly…"

"Could this be a Virus Digimon entering our system?" Craniumon asked.

"I've tried to inject a lot of vaccine essences and sending a lot of vaccine troops, this object remains undefeated. I also scanned it but it's nothing like a data, then I tried to send Virus essences and Viruses troops as well but it still remains undefeated. It's like it was eating everything…"

"Then, perhaps it is like those eaters?"

"No, I tried to use the same solution with as before but it didn't work. It's like it has its own thought! It's really nothing like them!"

"Hmm…this is bad, maybe we should try to scout for it and see its true form before deciding the next action…"

"I've tried to put on camera too but all I can see was something like a transparent cyber body. It wasn't a massive being, it shaped like a winged humanoid Digimon—almost like Lucemon but not quite!

"Is that a consciousness? How could a human get inside the system!?"

"Sadly, I also tried to teleport it out of the system, but the human world rejected the very object because it's not a human too! This object is really, really unknown!"

"Also...to add…." A female human staff said.

"Humans don't have wings… that object…is not human…" she continued.

"Then what is it?" Craniumon asked the human staff.

"Should we try to communicate with it? We can try sending a camera and microphone again." The human staff replied.

"If that possible, then try…." The female staff said as she headed to Dorumon's Computer, insert a USB and began to operate it while the computer status is still frozen.

A small screen popped out on the side showing a holographic map with a strange transparent object in the middle of it.

"Hello? Can you hear me….?" The female staff said. Dorumon and Craniumon tried to peek in.

The unknown object moved and acted like it knows that someone is talking to it.

"Who are you and what are you? Please explain yourself and we will talk some more…" the female staff said.

A static noise is heard, and it seems like the unknown object is trying to figure out which one is the mic for it...

… _..I am…._

Another static noise made as the female-like voice stated its name—rendering it unheard until the next word is spoken

… _.the strongest…._

And the static noise worsens as it once again made a skip to the sentence

… _in the entire universe. Nothing can defeat me… nothing at all!_

It says.

"What's your reason for being here…?" The female staff asked again.

 _I just want to …._

Another static noise is heard between the words,

… _.those people who have been trying to destroy me._

"You're destroying our system, please get out…" the female human staff continued.

 _As I have said…._

Another static noise.

… _..doesn't matter to me. If you want…._

Yet another static noise...

… _.make me leave. I dare you!_

"I don't get it, but that doesn't sound friendly to me…" Craniumon said.

"I agree. This object is furious… we have to destroy it…" Dorumon said.

"I know. We cannot tolerate any further chaos! We're going to delete you at all cost!"

… _sounds good to me…._

Then the static noise suddenly went off after a loud bang. All computers suddenly sounded a red alert and a real emergency chaos is began inside the server. All staff tried their best to hold the situation.

"Damn it, this object is a serious threat!" Craniumon said.

"Craniumon! The walls are broken so quickly! We need to act fast before this object reaches our gates!" A tall slender mechanical humanoid Digimon said.

"Hi-Andromon! Just shut down all gates! We need to take immediate action and develop a better plan!" Craniumon replied.

"Understood!"

"I'm sending more troops to stall this object!" Dorumon said as he helped the female human staff operating the computer.

"We need to make an announcement. Stop all people from using the Terminal! The gates will be closed in two minutes!" the female human staff said to her co-workers.

"Understood!" they replied at the same time.

* * *

 **See you next chapter!**

 **Also, I'll put all the credit of what Digimon reference I'm using in last chapter! Meanwhile, I'll let you all guesses lol.**


	6. Ch6 : From the Different World

**Here goes! Next chapter!**

 **Thanks to LightRiver33 for the edits!**

 **Also, I'm sad but happy that Muse era is ended. I mean, i feel like it's a lot more meaningful that way than having it prolonged until it becomes an awkward anime with dense character presentation...or just trashy story plots. Let's all just hope that the next LL generation (Aquors) is as good as Muse!**

* * *

City of Memories—Digital world;

It's been few hours since everyone had been stuck in the Digital World. Some people did not seem to care too much about it while others were still complaining about it. Honoka, Kotori, and Umi decided to go to the terminal again to check out the most recent information.

"I wonder if we can log out now?" Umi asked

Honoka and Kotori shrugged But, just before they were able to say they don't know either, they heard a customer complaining out loud.

"What do you mean no one can log-out right now!?"

"The system is experiencing a serious problem. We cannot risk opening a portal for now…" the staff said.

"But what about my school?! I have school tomorrow! I can't stay here! Plus, my family will probably be worried if I don't return home today!"

"Your worry may not be necessary. The real world is also currently experiencing a massive problem. A lot of people have fallen victim to this strange phenomenon. We're only opening a one way portal from the real world to the Digital world…"

"W-what did you say?!"

"The Digital world is accepting refugees from the real world right now…" the staff continued.

"No-no, I mean, what's the problem?!"

"The Real World is experiencing a glitch and many copied objects and began falling from the sky. Fortunately, there were no fatalities, but many are injured. That's why, before the problem gets any more serious, we're calling all inhabitants in Real World to take shelter in the Digital World…"

"W-Whaaat?!" many customers exclaimed in their surprise.

"Right now, our design and engineering teams are developing a housing system and we will be able to launch it as soon as it finished. Housing registration can be done by players to shelter their family while non-player refugees will be gathered in the Lodging House. Also, as a reminder, the basic housing services will be free."

"W-wait-wait, this is ridiculous! We're all going to move to the Digital World temporarily? We can't live here! We need real food at the very least!"

"Worry not. After today's maintenance, all humans will have part of themselves digitized. It's a safe practice and the best course of action in this circumstance. That means humans will be able to eat Digital food to fulfill their hunger, use the digital toilet to relieve their bladders, and sleep in their digital homes to replenish their energy…"

"Hey, haven't the officials read history books?! Ever heard of the Oinkmon?! Do you think we want to let you people do that to us?!" one of the angry customers said.

"Please do not worry. As we have said, humans will just be partially digitized and they will all be protected by our program. Such an incident will never happen again. We will also back up all data and make sure they're safely stored in our drive."

The crowd did not seem to be convinced but some began to head out of the terminal.

"So...that means we still can't log out…?" Umi asked with a worried face.

"Looks like it. Should we go back to the lobby and pick up our Digimon again?" Honoka asked.

"It's fine, we shouldn't bother their rest. They've been doing great in their practice today…" Umi replied.

"Aren't you worried about your family? I'm a little worried right now…" she continued.

"My mother own a Mega Digimon, so I'm not worried. hehe…" Kotori said.

"Y-Your mother does?" Umi raises her eyebrows.

"Yep. Like what I've told you, a lot of people play this game, including adults!"

"W-wow…what Digimon does she own?" Honoka asked.

"Valdurmon! A giant bird! Hehe… he has six wings and he shines so bright!"

"W-wah…It sounds amazing!" Honoka said.

"He often appear in his champion form though—and he is very adorable!"

"What is his champion form…?" Umi asked.

"Kokatorimon!"

"Koka…torimon? A chicken?"

"Yup! A Cock that looks like a peacock!"

"Oh…."

"Is your mother an S-Ranked player?" Honoka asked.

"Nope, she is stuck in Mega Rank. She said the tournament to get an S-Rank is ridiculously hard and only a very strong tamer can pass through it…"

"I…I see…."

Suddenly, a call came through Kotori's Digivice.

"Oh—my mother is calling…" she said as she accepted the call.

"Speak of the devil…" Umi said.

"Hello…Kotori-chan? Are you in the Digital World right now?" Kotori's mother asked.

"Yep, we can't log out…" Kotori replied.

"Good, don't log out. Something wrong is happening in the real world right now…"

"We've heard, but how is it exactly?" Kotori asked.

"It's hard to explain, but… not only are objects copied but people too! A lot of Digimon are also falling from the Sky. The worst part is that they're wild Digimons so there's no chance of being communicated with…"

"S-Sounds bad, is everyone ok there?"

"I have a few students that need to be escorted to the Digital world. You should be glad you've been there…"

"What about the other teachers?"

"Some teachers are Digimon Tamers too. They're now working checking on the other students. It's too bad that we can't get any help right now from anyone who has been inside the Digital world, but I suppose we're also pretty lucky because Ayase, Toujou and Yazawa are helping. They just logged out before the announcement to get shelter in Digital World was made…"

"Is that so? That sounds helpful! Is there anything we can do from here?"

"Yes, can you all wait in the underground terminal? Apparently, that's the only safe terminal to use right now. Refugees will be coming in from there so I want you all to comfort them somehow or at least check up on them. Any volunteers will be very helpful right now since the officials can't freely send people from the Real world to the Digital world at the moment."

"Understood!"

"I'll be staying in the real world to help out too—most of the strong tamers will. I'll send Ayase, Toujou, and Yazawa to take care of you all since they might be an asset and I think they will be much more useful with you all."

"E-eh? Them?" Kotori raises her eyebrow. She wonders if thing will be fine for them.

"Yazawa's mother came up to me too. She said she is going to stay here and help out so Yazawa also has to bring her siblings along with her. It will be meddlesome but they appear to have a special housing reservation in Digital World. You can live there with them if you like…but I suggest not."

"Yep, we wouldn't want to bother them…" Kotori replied.

"And Ayase has a little sister who appears to own a mega Digimon as well and he is also a type that registered as member of the Royal Knight, Sleipmon. You just wouldn't believe how strong he is. They protected many families from the wild Digimon, including Kousaka's and Sonoda's family—they are your friends, right?"

"Y-yes… but…wow…a Sleipmon?" Kotori said.

"Yes, also, about Kousaka… did she know that her sister also owns a mega Digimon that was registered as a Royal Knight?"

"E-eh? Yukiho?" Kotori asked to confirm.

"What about Yukiho?" Honoka asked.

"Yes, that girl. She has… Ulforce-Veedramon. Surprising, isn't it…?" Kotori's mother said.

"W-whaat?! The quickest Digimon?!" Kotori said.

"Apparently, they've been playing together—and Ayase is the one who supervises their training. I confirmed it. That's why I'm hoping that sending Ayase will help you all raise your Digimons…"

"I…I see… so I guess we need to look for her too?"

"Yep. As for Toujou, she can actually stay here and help but she doesn't want to leave Ayase's side…" Kotori's mother giggled after she said it.

"…love birds. Hard to keep them apart…but now, please remember that you all still need to discuss how you will deal with each other, ok? I know Ayase isn't that easy to hang out with, and Toujou isn't that helpful. Then there's Yazawa who is quite…antique…" she continued.

"Ehehe…ok! So our task will be to help around and discuss how we should deal with each other until we have to meet them?" Kotori asked to confirm.

"Exactly, Kotori-chan. Now good luck with that, ok?"

* * *

Meanwhile in the terminal—Digital World;

"We can't log out… it seems that there's an internal problem with the portal…" Maki said to Rin and Hanayo.

"Should we pick up our Digimon and wait until we can open them?" Hanayo suggested.

"It might be best if we let them rest. Maybe we can spend our time browsing instead?" Maki asked.

"Right—nya! I wanted to look around and buy Gaomon something-nya!" Rin said.

"Heh—right, I should buy Lunamon something too for her hard work today and also because she has been obedient…" Maki said.

"Hmm..I certainly have an idea what I want to get for Lalamon…" Hanayo said.

"….but I wasn't really sure of it…" she continued.

"What did you plan on getting?" Maki asked.

"I'm thinking of decorating her room with natural elements. The default one seems dull…" Hanayo said.

"Ah, Room interior, huh? I think my mother sells them but most of her stuff are related to city life…" Maki said.

"Your mother? That means…she play Digimon Online too?"

"Well—I told her about Lunamon yesterday…. Then she got so hyped up and started telling me about her own Digimon. Apparently, she own a Mega Digimon who owns a bike! Pretty cool I would say… and it kind of makes me jealous." Maki said.

"Uh…? What?" Hanayo and Rin wondered.

"The name is Belzeemon and he is registered as a member of 7 Demon Lords…" Maki continued.

"Belzeemon?!" Hanayo and Rin were surprised.

"Yeah…and he is pretty bratty, I have to say, but also gentle at the same time. It's so annoying that I can't really be mad at him or hate him personally. Belzeemon and my mother are so close with each other and he always offers anything he can do for my mother but also messes with everyone around him…"

"Can you explain more?"

"Heh—sure. Whenever my mother returns from work, she always spends at least three hours with him in the Digital World. My dad, who also own a Mega Digimon called Duftmon or Leopardmon, always head off first. So Belzeemon is there to impress my mother by offering her a ride on his bike. My mother is impressed of course. Then my mother basically just needs to tell him where she wants to go and he will drive her everywhere."

"So…what did he do wrong-nya…?" Rin asked.

"The idea of trying to impress a married woman is wrong…" Maki continued.

"Hehe…I think there's nothing wrong with that though. I mean, he wanted to be sweet?" Hanayo said.

"That's true…but again, I just don't like him that much…" Maki said.

"Is there another example-nya?" Rin asked.

"Alright… there's also shopping. My mother was so proud of this but I just don't feel it was right. My mother was asking a seller about his prices and the seller was pretty rude so Belzeemon threatened the seller and made them apologize to my mother ten times and drop the price for her."

"T-That also sounds pretty sweet of him?" Hanayo said.

"Heh…really? I'd rather just find another seller instead of being an ass to one specific seller. I mean, they wanted to earn a profit, not get harassed by high ranked Digimon like him…"

"Hmm…so your mother likes BadBoys-nya!" Rin said.

"R-Rin! That's a little disturbing!" Maki said.

"Is your father a bad boy too-nya?" Rin asked.

"Huh? I don't know. Maybe he is. But in all honesty, I always know that my dad is quiet while my mother is the one who often goes everywhere and is noisy."

"Oh…." Rin and Hanayo responded.

"She is troublesome at times but I guess it's not bad at all…" Maki replied.

"What about your family though? Is there anyone else in your families who own Digimons?" Maki asked.

"Hehe, my mom and dad are the ones who recommend me to play this game-nya! Dad owns a Justimon and mom has her Tiger-Vespamon" Rin said.

"I've never seen their form. Maybe I should head to the Digi-Encyclopedia again…" Maki said.

"Hehe, those two Digimon are active. It seems that your family likes Active Digimon…" Hanayo said.

"What about Kayo-chin? I heard your mother and father also played?"

"Hehe, my mother own a Mega Digimon called Queen Chessmon, then my dad—he was so close of getting King Chessmon line, but then he decided to have a Seraphimon instead. He said he prefers to have a very supportive and gentle Digimon…"

"Queen-Chessmon? Isn't that Digimon arrogant? I was considering that one Mega when I was asked about what kind of mega digimon I want, then someone told me about Queen Chessmon that his friend owns…"

"Hehe, for some reason though, my mother's Queen-Chessmon is rather gentle and easily panics… that's why Seraphimon is there to help her when she needs it…"

"Sounds like someone-nya!" Rin said,

"Really? Hehe…" Hanayo replied.

"Yup!"

"Heh—now that you said it, do Digimon copy our personalities or something…?" Maki asked.

"I'm not sure-nya!" Rin replied.

"Still, isn't it amazing for them to develop a personality to begin with? Or…the way they have different personalities even though they're the same?" Maki asked.

"I always thought that they are an AI or something…" Hanayo replied.

"An Artificial Intelligence? That's probably it… With the idea of us being partially digitalized, maybe they're just copying our data to our Digimon's data…"

"I believe they're not AI though… it feels like there's something else to them…" Hanayo said.

"Huh? Right... you _thought_ they're AI…"

"When I found out about my parents' Digimon, I just began to believe that they've been through a lot more in order to raise them...it motivated me to play some more and see how I'll do…" Hanayo said.

"Still, what makes you think that they're more than AI?" Maki asked.

"Interaction…and the ability to grow up and learn from experience…just like Lunamon!"

"Ah—you're right…even though they just feel somewhat alike to me, it just feels too dynamic for them to be able to react like that…" Maki said.

Suddenly, in the middle of their conversation, an announcement signal is made.

"Attention, players. This is the official speaking…" a female voice said.

"Eh, official announcement, I wonder what it is about." Hanayo said.

"You all probably know by now that the terminal cannot be used and none of the players are able to log out at this time. The real world is also experiencing danger from an unexpected glitch in the Digital Shift System. We have begun accepting refugees from the Real World; therefore, all players are expected to find their families and register themselves for Housing. There will be five booths that will be built in the city as soon as maintenance is finished. Please register only one family at time as since the space is limited and there might be refugees who will not be able to get a spot."

"W-what?! So that was why we can't Log out?!" Hanayo started to panic.

"C-calm down, Hanayo, we should all try to contact our family first…" Maki said.

"R-Right-nya! We should!" Rin replied.

The three quickly pick up their cellphones to call their relatives…"

The Special Portal to Digital World—Real World;

"….and…all set. It's time for us to go…" A specific blonde said as she finished packing up her belongings.

"Onee-chan, when do you think you will return?" A younger blonde asked.

"I don't know. We cannot travel back here until they fix these issues…" the older one replied.

The younger one seems saddened but the older one remained cold and oblivious, though her Digimon is concerned enough to try to cheer the young girl up.

"W-we can still chat with you, Alisa…." Renamon, who has been following around, said.

"Hehe—right, Renamon. I'll be staying here to make sure the world will not get that messy…" Alisa replied.

"Alisa… it's time for us to gather in the City's cross-roads…" a huge red armored Centaur with horse-like head and a crossbow on his arm said.

"Ok, Odin! Can you meet Yukiho first though?" Alisa—the younger blonde replied.

"Ah—right, I'll have to check on her first as well…" The huge Centaur Digimon left quickly.

For some reason, Renamon felt envious of how he was called with a nickname. She wished she has one right now but, putting that matter aside, she isn't even that close with her tamer yet. she knows well enough that they have to be a little more intimate to be able to earn a nickname somehow.

"Onee-chan, Nozomi-nee-chan is going with you, right?"

"Yes, she is…" Eli replied.

"Take care of her, ok? Hehe…"

The older one smiled faintly.

"You don't need to tell me—not even once. I will certainly take care of her…" she said.

"Yup! Hehe…." The younger one replied cheerfully.

* * *

Akihabara, UTX School—The Real World;

"T-Tsubasa! Listen carefully!" Erena said loudly as she held into the short brunette who's trying to get herself out of their discussion room.

"You can't tell me what to do! Get your hands off me! I have to go make sure that Honoka is safe!"

"Tsubasa! You're not even close! Besides, she is probably safe right now! Many peoples are evacuating in to the Digital World—she also has her friends and everyone else around her, she will be fine!" Erena said again as she tried so hard to pull back the short girl.

"I have to say, this time, I'm with you, Erena-chan…" Anjuu said.

Tsubasa chagrined at the statement and could not say anything else. She finally hit the ground before she calmed down completely, despite still being unwilling to accept that both of her closest friends are against her plan.

"We all need to stay here and assist the official in securing the real world…and remember that we can't travel back here if we go there right now." Anjuu continued.

"Trust me, Tsubasa. It's no time for you to be reckless…" Erena added.

"Yes, it's not like we're not worried. As a matter of fact, we are all very worried about them. We can always think that we're not the only strong people around—but if we think that way and the others also think that way, what will happen to the real world? Should we all abandon it and become one with the Digital World?"

Tsubasa finally let out a sigh.

"No…we shouldn't…. I'm sorry…" she replied.

"You can still contact her, you've got her contact in your digivice, right?" Erena said.

Tsubasa remained silent.

"Even though the Digital World closed their portal, we are all still be able to send information. It's not going to be the end for you two. Perhaps it could make things even smoother if you approach her through long distance—and for a reason too." Anjuu said.

"Yeah, you're right…" Tsubasa scratched her head shyly.

"Now, why don't you start with trying contact her? Only if you really want to let your worry off your chest of course…" Anjuu suggested.

Tsubasa nodded, then she started with spawning her digivice screen out and directing it to the private message.

She entered her contact and began to write:

 _ **To : Honoka Kousaka**_

 _Honoka, are you there?_

And it just took a moment for her to receive a reply.

 _ **From : Honoka Kousaka**_

 _Yup! We're currently staying around the lobby, we can't log out… :(_

 _ **To : Honoka Kousaka**_

 _I wish I can take you out! But…I can't Log In either. We have to stay in the real world to help…_

 _ **From : Honoka Kousaka**_

 _It's ok! I have Umi-chan and Kotori-chan with me! Our seniors are coming to help too!_

 _ **To : Honoka Kousaka**_

 _That's good! But… anyway! Please make sure you are training hard! Maybe this problem is bigger than we thought! Maybe we both have to fight in the world we are in!_

 _ **From : Honoka Kousaka**_

 _I think the only thing I'm worried about is our meal. They said, we're going to be turned into a quarter human–as in, bigger part of our body will turn into cyber body! We will be able to eat digital food and fulfill our needs like that!_

 _ **To : Honoka Kousaka**_

 _I don't really get it. Isn't that just their way to keep people alive there…?_

 _ **From : Honoka Kousaka**_

 _But doesn't that mean we will eat tasteless meals everyday? Do data even have a flavor?_

 _ **To : Honoka Kousaka**_

 _Haha–don't worry! There's a Chef Profession in Digimon Online! You can have High Quality meal if you make it yourself! The taste will be great and I bet your Digimon can confirm that too!_

 _ **From : Honoka Kousaka**_

 _Really? That sounds cool! How do I take this Chef Profession?_

And Tsubasa continued chatting while Erena and Anjuu watched in relief at their finally calm leader.

* * *

Meanwhile— The Terminal in Digital World;

Honoka, Kotori, and Umi are waiting in the Terminal. While Honoka seems to be busy with her Digivice, Kotori and Umi keep their eyes searching around the area, hoping to spot the arrival of specific people. While they did so, instead of finding the specific trio, the Ash brunette spotted a different trio that she met. She stayed quiet—or at least that was what she did until the Orange Haired girl spots her.

"Ahh! Kotori-senpai-nya!" she said loudly, taking both of her friends attention.

"Rin-chan, Hanayo-chan, and Maki-chan!" Kotori greeted them all as she watched them approach her.

"Hehe! We meet again-nya!" Rin said

"And I assume, you three can't log out as well…"Umi said.

"Yeah-nya! We've not heard much, but many said that we may be required to stay here for the time being-nya!"

"The Real world isn't in a condition where everyone can live in peace. Wild Digimon are appearing and may be causing a mess…." Umi said a little sadly.

"Yeah….we all have tried to contact our parents though they're very well protected….what about you all?" Kotori asked.

"We did-nya! They seem fine and are currently preparing to fight too…"

"Say, do all of your parents play Digimon Online too?" Maki asked.

"Yep. Surprisingly, they all play Digimon Online. Even Umi-chan's parents!" Kotori replied.

"They never told me but my dad apparently owns a Mega Digimon called Zanbamon, and my mother has a Lord Knightmon. I just can't believe it…." Umi said a little shyly.

"Honoka-chan's dad might not have played the game but her mother owns a Dukemon and her sister has an Ulforce Veedramon. Isn't that great?"

"T-those names sound powerful…" Hanayo commented.

"It is! Both are Royal Knights! Hehe… the best thing is that her dad will start raising his Digimon again!" Kotori said.

"Raising his Digimon again? Don't tell me, he abandoned his Digimon?"

"Sort-of! Hehe…he wasn't able to play since he is always busy in the shop, but now that he has another task related to Digimon Online, he will raise him again!"

"I see…." Hanayo replied.

"Now, are you three bored or something? We've been waiting for a group of people to arrive…"

"Waiting for who-nya?" Rin asked.

"Uh…. Nozomi Toujou and friends..."

"Oh! Her… well, we would like to obtain her service again, if possible, but perhaps not today since we all need to let our Digimon rest…" Maki said.

"The three of you used her service?" Kotori asked.

"Yeah, she is very uhm…well… she has ridiculous luck. Her Angewomon is very fast and thick and her Lady Devimon ridiculously fast and good at offense. I wish I could get two Digimon too so that I can train them like that." Maki said.

"Hehe, having a decent-sized Lunamon is enough, Maki-chan!"

"Yeah, I suppose so…" Maki scratched her head.

"hmm..don't you think it's cruel for us to react like that? I mean… we all already own our Digimon, don't you think making that sort of comment will hurt their feelings?" Umi asked.

"Uh…senpai is right… it will feels like we're not glad of their existence…" Hanayo replied.

"Ah….I've never realized… I hope Biyomon isn't taking this to heart…I've always been envious of Nozomi-senpai's luck…." Kotori said.

"Heh, but, to speak the truth, luck doesn't always stick to one person, right? Sometime we're extremely lucky and sometime we are just so unlucky…." Maki sighed.

"Uh….Did something bad happen to you recently?" Kotori asked.

"Maki-chan got scammed-nya!"

"S-Scammed? Who did that?" Umi asked.

"Heh—not sure, I don't think I want to remember it. It caused us some trouble, that's all I can say…" Maki said.

"Hehe, let me help you with that. A while ago we were trying to purchase some supplies for tomorrow, just like what was suggested by Nozomi-senpai. She told us that we could purchase cheaper supplies from the players than from the official. We tried to check from the official first to see the price range, then to the players. It went smoothly until we met a specific player who offered us a set of cards. She said, we will need it in our journey somehow…" Hanayo explained.

"Uh…where's the scam then? Cards are certainly important for the journey…" Kotori said.

"Yeah, but she didn't tell us how to open itor that we can't use it until we own a Digi-card device…"

"U-uh….I guess you've read the instructions, which explains how you know about the Digi-card device. But… if you flip the card set case again, you will see that there's a small lock. You can try to open that yourself, but just to be safe, you can ask a card dealer to open it for you…"

"Heh…what's the difference?" Maki asked.

"Well, a card dealer will know how to open it very carefully, so you might have the chance to get better number of cards because they are less likely to break the card that might stick on the case."

"W-wow…why did they never change that system anyway. I don't see the point of making it hard."

"Uhm… it was because back then, the card case is too easy to open and some people are able to reseal it and sell the trash card set as if it was new. That's what you should consider a scam. I'm not very sure about the chance of card dealer faking a set of cards though, but I guess since there are not many card dealers now and they're registered, there won't be as many fake card set as before." Kotori said.

"I see… so I guess it does have a reason…" Maki raise one eyebrow as she started to imagine how troublesome it could be if the cards set were resealable.

"Then I guess this is fine, huh?"

As soon as she continued speaking, a specific small, black-haired girl approached them.

"Oi… there you are…" she said when her eyes found Kotori, Umi and Honoka— who was still busy chatting in her digivice.

Kotori and Umi were about to greet her, but….

"Aaah! You!" Maki suddenly exclaimed when she turn around and saw Niko.

"Wh-Whoa?!" Niko raises her voices as well.

"You're that scammer!" Maki yelled.

"No-way! I'm not a scammer!" Niko retorted.

"Then why did you yell?! You must've realized that you were lying!"

"You yelled first! So of course I yell back!"

"Liar! Give my money back! I'll drop your fake ass fighter card set back!" Maki yelled.

"It isn't a fake card set! It actually contains fighter cards that I don't even know! You could get lucky and get all the decent cards, and perhaps gold cards, for the price I gave you!" Niko said.

"It's almost impossible though, right?! I read it on the back! There is only, like, 0.01% chance of getting gold card from a regular card set! And you sold me this for twice price of the usual fighter card set! Plus, put aside using it, I can't even open it!"

"Have you ever heard something called ' _saving up for the future'_?!"

"I can get them in the future as well for the actual price! I don't need to pay twice the price for something!"

"Well—you paid for that, you can't return it to me!" Niko said.

"Hhrrrnnnggg! You're so—annoying!" Maki said as she stomped her foot with both of her hands clenched. Both of Maki and Niko were frowning and their glare on each other intensified. Hanayo, Kotori, and Rin couldn't say anything to stop them and Umi doesn't even know where to start. Honoka, on the other hand, has only been smiling and giggling as she chatted on her digivice.

"Now-now…" a familiar voice suddenly interrupted them.

"Ahh! Nozomi-senpai! G-G-Good timing!" Hanayo said as she noticed a specific purplenette approaching them, along with specific blonde who she chose to ignore for now.

"Ahh…I'm glad you're here, senpai!" Kotori said.

"What's up with this intense atmosphere?" Nozomi asked.

"She made me buy a Card set for twice price of the actual market value!" Maki pointed her finger to Niko.

"I told you, it will be worth it, I can guarantee that the card will be decent!" Niko crossed her arm.

Nozomi raised her eyebrow and threw a mocking smile at Niko,

"Hmm…? Nikocchi, I doubt I've ever heard you get gold card from a regular card set. How can you be so sure that you could sell a card set that contains a gold-card?"

"I didn't say that it's a guaranteed gold card! I said that it's guaranteed to be decent…" Niko said.

"…and that was enough for you to sell it for twice the price? Hmm…alright…." Nozomi said.

Maki is about to say something to counter that, but…

"Alright, hmm…what's your name again…? Maki-chan…?" Nozomi asked as she placed both of her hands on her hips.

"Yeah?" Maki replied instead of continuing to complain.

"I'll buy your card set for the same price she sold to you…unless you want to trade with recovery supplies instead?" Nozomi offered.

"Heh—I guess recovery supplies will do. I bought this for two thousand yen…I'll be happy if you give me supplies that are worth around that." Maki replied.

"Alright then, that's a deal…" Nozomi said as she handed out a pack of recovery supplies from her digital bag which doesn't appear until she has to take something out of it. The bag looked like it is crafted from gold or something like it.

"W-waah! Digital bag!" Kotori exclaimed.

"I've never seen that before… where did you buy that?" Maki asked as she took out a small green box.

"Hehe, Ericchi made it for me. All players in the crafting profession are able to make that…" Nozomi said.

"R-Really? Then I should be able to make that too, right?" Kotori asked.

"Yep, even better… you are a fashion supplier, right?" Nozomi said.

"Yup!"

"Then you can always make them from any materials. I think you can buy some recipes from Ericchi for that."

"Ok!" Kotori replied cheerfully.

Nozomi and Maki continued their transaction, Niko seems to be trying so hard to ignore the fact that someone else is paying up for what she did to the specific junior. Maki is pouting hard at Niko and as the transaction was taking place, Niko saw Maki is sticking out her tongue at her mockingly. Niko replied with a second of chagrin then put up a mocking face at her too.

"Alright, I wouldn't be able to make any profit from selling this card set itself, so let's just open it up..." Nozomi said as she proceed to open the card set.

"I'm sorry, it's not like I'm trying to throw the misfortune at you…it's just that I need supplies more than cards that I can't use." Maki said.

"It's fine. I could make more profit in my level. The supply I traded you are worth more than the price of this card set, but let's just consider that as my welcoming gift, ok?" Nozomi said.

"Y-you're kind…thanks…" Maki blushed slightly as she turn her face away.

"Hmmpph! No wonder you're not a millionaire yet. You're giving too much, Nozomi…" Niko commented.

"Well, I've always got enough for myself, right Ericchi?" Nozomi said as she turn her eyes to her cold-looking girlfriend.

"As long as you are happy with it." Eli replied.

As soon as Nozomi was finally able to unlock her card set, she carefully opened it and…

"Whoa…this card set is indeed decent… look at the number of—…." Nozomi paused. Eli took a little peek inside the card set case.

"H-Harasho…" Eli said with her eyes looking at it in awe.

Maki, Rin, Hanayo, Kotori, Umi and Niko are flustered. Wondering what the two were seeing.

"Say Ericchi…what is the maximum number of cards in a card set?"

"About twenty?" Eli replied.

"Hmm…alright, let's see how many we got…" Nozomi said as she threw the card case on the ground, destroying it into pixels, while the cards on her hands right are...

"W-w-wait now! Are you sure you opened a regular fighter card set?!" Kotori exclaimed as she saw the number of gold cards she held.

"Well, I certainly gave her the regular one, the advanced one has a silver box, right?" Maki said.

"Y-yes...and the professional set has a gold box… I swear I saw green box!" Kotori said.

"W-whoah… I guess she really is a lucky person…" Hanayo said.

"That's amazing-nya…." Rin said.

"Harasho! It's 15 gold cards from 18 cards!" Eli said.

"I can sell these for over two million!" Nozomi said.

"No-no, let's make it five million. Some of these cards have a high demand from Fighter Digimon tamers…" Eli said.

"You know where to sell these Ericchi? Then I'll hand these to you…" Nozomi said as she gave Eli all of the gold cards except for the three regular cards on her hand.

"E-Excuse me, I think I want to pay for my own _mistake_ … can I get that card set back for two thousand yen…?" Niko asked in extremely polite way.

"Well…I paid for it, so no return…" Nozomi said.

Maki smiled as she heard it.

"Guess that serves you right…huh?" she said.

"Wh-what did you say?!" Niko complained.

While the girls began to argue, Umi was dumbfounded by the event. She honestly still doesn't really get the hype. All she know is that, at least Nozomi's kindness is paid in full.

Putting that aside, she turned around to look at a specific girl who is unusually quiet. Maybe it's not exactly the silence, she knows that Honoka is currently chatting with someone in her digivice… it just feels weird when Honoka didn't make a single sound.

When she is about to speak to Honoka, the ginger girl finally spoke—a little too loudly that everyone turned their attention to her.

"Can anyone tell me where the mailbox is?!" she asked.

"M-mail box? What for?" Umi asked.

"Hehe, Tsubasa-chan told me that she sent me some stuff that are decent for a starter! I should pick it up from the mail box!" Honoka said.

"W-wait..what?! T-Tsubasa…? Kira Tsubasa? You are really that close to her?!" Hanayo asked.

"Yep! Hehe…" Honoka said. Hanayo's jaw dropped.

"Wh-why am I surrounded by lucky asses…." Niko said with a bitter smirk on her face.

"Mail box, huh? Well, we can show you where it is, but, there also something else that we need to talk about—and it's pretty important." Nozomi said.

"Really? Then let's talk about it so that I can pick up my stuff?" Honoka replied.

* * *

The seniors took them all out of the city,

They added Eli and Nozomi in their contacts. While the other girls are focused on reading the text in the group chat, Umi seems to be focused on the specific blonde's profile.

 _Name : Eli Ayase_

 _Rank : S-Rank (Not Registered in any Elite Club)_

 _Tamer Level : 135_

 _Digimon : Renamon ( Lv. 38/250%)_

 _Job : Student_

 _Profession : Lv. 120 Goldsmith, Lv.115 Merchant, Lv. 80 Whitesmith_

 _InGameSpouse : Nozomi Toujou_

 _Biography :_

 _If you have business with me, ask Nozomi._

She has honestly been so envious of her charisma and thought that, perhaps if she could somehow be trained by her, they can be rivals?

Putting that thought aside, she finally decided to scan through the text in the group chat that was created a few minutes before.

The text pretty much explains the situation in the real world at that time. There was an error caused by a strange Digital shift behavior. The government is currently blaming the Digital world Manager for the incident but there was a counter argument where the Digital World Manager said that it may have been caused by a criminal from the real world—which might be an attempt to sabotage and bring down the Digital World's popularity.

While the two side are acting childishly, the rest of the crew are working hard to prevent any further chaos by gathering strong tamers in the real world, fighting off the wild Digimon that keep appearing from unknown sources. There was also an issue about the strange object which is believed to be an alien invading the earth. It may be true, but it might be too ridiculous to consider since there are too many theories that blame living organisms who lives in the other world than Digital world or the _Real_ World.

From that incident, many people are taking shelter in digital world even if they know that they all will be partially digitized just like the players. It is also suggested that S-Ranked tamers with High Level Digimon fight with the rest of the team in the real world. Eli also said that she received an invitation about the matter—and was also told that the only two way portal that is open is the portal in Digital World's Depth, which can only be accessed by the S-Rank players.

Everyone was offered a space in lodging houses and players are allowed to purchase housing for their family. Many of the S-Rank are leaving, except for Eli who is capable of using S-Rank service but was allowed to put aside her responsibility as an S-Ranked player until her Renamon is fully prepared for the rank.

She also explained that they're told to help out with practice and taking care of the group—as requested by their parents through Principal Minami. Both Eli and Nozomi said that they're planning to get a special shelter for them all. It could be an actual house or a trailer—or _truck_ as Eli wrote in the text.

After the text, Eli also added a few links to the houses and trailers available for them. Eli also stated that they all will have to donate if they want to purchase a decent house as Eli and Nozomi themselves wouldn't be able to purchase it. They also added that the price won't be as expensive as the real houses, but it might still be too expensive for the two.

Umi was about to start browsing but Maki suddenly spoke up and her voice was loud enough to attract the girls' attention.

"Ok, let's purchase a decent house for all of us…" she said.

"A house? Are you sure? You don't want a mobile home?" Nozomi asked.

"I'm not that interested, but I'm fine with that too." Maki replied.

"I understand if you don't want to live in a truck…but I wouldn't know what kind of house you want to live in. Can you at least give us your favorite…?" Eli asked.

"Huh? Well…honestly, I'm not so hyped up when looking at luxurious houses. I'd rather get the simple yet intriguing one, such as the Mid-Century Modern or Contemporary Style houses…" Maki said.

"That's a very decent choice. What about the others?" Eli asked. Her manner might be friendly but there is still this cold aura around her which makes the girls still somewhat uneasy to speak up.

"Uuh…I like Victorian or Greek Revival style. It looks so cozy and maybe I can try to decorate the interior with pastel colors?" Kotori said.

"I'm not that used to these houses so maybe I'll stick with oriental? Pueblo revival looks intriguing, though!" Honoka said.

"Hehe, me and Kayo-chin think that Farmhouse and Ranch look interesting—it's like we can run around anytime-nya!"

"….maybe we also can open an actual farmland with rice paddy?" Hanayo added.

"Hmm….I think I'll stick with neo-classical houses…or something like town-houses? I'm not that interested on picking houses, honestly. I'd rather get an actual castle…" Niko said proudly.

Umi keep searching through the links, she is still unable to decide what house she wanted until Eli turned to her.

"What about you? Umi?" the blonde asked.

"Uh…? Honestly, I'm not quite sure. Maybe I can agree with Honoka since oriental houses are all that I'm used to but…maybe… a Craftman House can be an option?"

Eli nodded then turned to Nozomi.

"Well—since we have too many options, maybe we should start looking at the mobile home instead…?" she asked.

"You're still into trucks!" Eli said.

"They need to take a look and decide. I'll send you all more links for mobile-home styles!" Nozomi said.

The girls started to browse again.

Most of the picture that Nozomi sent are a little absurd—some of them also looked like a regular home with wheels.

"Uh…honestly, I'm not sure… I don't really like living in a cramped place…maybe we can purchase this but only for when we are traveling around? I mean…I will still want to sleep in a home with big room…" Kotori said.

"Some of these look like my father's car…" Honoka said.

"I have to say, there won't be enough room for me to plant rice if I live in a trailer…" Hanayo said.

"Yeah-nya…it feels a little cramped for me too-nya." Rin said.

"Hmm… I'm not really into these." Umi said.

"Heh—really, I think I'd take the one with pictures of sweets all over its body, but people might mistake us for a candy-truck…" Niko said.

"Hnnn…so I guess you all don't want it? That's too bad, I guess my luck isn't good all the time…" Nozomi said.

"What about you though, Eli-senpai? You haven't give us any of your choice!" Honoka said.

Eli remained silent for a moment, then she sighed softly before she smiled faintly at Honoka,

"My idea is to just get a large empty plot and give you all the freedom. But I'm always afraid that something bad might happen."

"Like what-nya?"

"The spaces and differences can be a problem, I don't want anyone to fight over something stupid…" Eli said.

"Then, why don't we just do this… let's collect all we can give for this project, then each of us will get one type of materials, next, we gather it back here and build with whatever material we have?"

"Uh…how do we know how much we need though?" Kotori asked.

"Well, you just need to get one sample and Ericchi will certainly process the next step like counting and getting the rest of the materials." Nozomi said.

"You need to stop throwing responsibility to your girl." Niko commented.

"I don't mind, honestly. It sounds like an easy task…" Eli said.

"See? Ericchi loves me and you're just jelly because you don't have one." Nozomi said.

"Urgh….I hate you…" Niko sighed.

"Just take your pick, these girls look decent, no?" Nozomi said.

"Huh? No way, I'm not preying on anyone younger…" Niko said.

"Sure? You look like the youngest here though, Nikocchi, just look at your size…" Nozomi said.

"Oh—shut up!"

"Heh—I have to say, I thought you were an elementary school student. Who would've expect you to be my senior?" Maki said mockingly at the black haired girl.

"Are you blind or something? I'm wearing exactly the same uniform as you— and this ribbon!" Niko showed her green ribbon.

"It might be just a Costume Play, I was wearing my mother's uniform back when I was a junior high-school student..." Maki replied—still with her mocking face.

"From all the girls here, do you have to pick on me, huh?!" Niko complained.

"Shush—now-now, Nikocchi, Maki-chan, maybe we should all discuss my idea instead of bantering." Nozomi cuts in.

"Why are you suddenly the voice of reason, huh?" the little girl smirked.

"Well, I don't mind that. It seems like it's the best option for us…" Maki said, completely ignoring Niko's statement.

"Yeah, I think that's the best choice for all of us." Kotori said.

"Yup! I agree! It sounds fun too!" Honoka said.

"Hehe, I have to say that it's the best way to solve this." Hanayo said.

"Should we play a pencil roulette to decide-nya?" Rin said.

"Let's just go with a number lottery to make sure that everyone gets different material type." Umi suggested.

"Yup, so that's settled…" Nozomi nodded.

"Nikocchi! Fetch the lottery!" she continued as she pointed to Niko.

"Huh-what?! Why are you suddenly ordering me?" Niko complained.

"Go, Nikocchi! Go! Unless you want to replace Ericchi with the math and material summary!" Nozomi said again.

"Aargh—I hate you!"

* * *

 **Ok! See you next chapter~**


	7. Ch7 : House of Ours

**Thank you for supports!**

 **Thanks to LightRiver33 for edits!**

 **Here is the next chapter!**

* * *

The City of Memory— Digital World;

After the lottery they discussed, each of them were assigned to procure one of the materials they needed. Honoka was assigned to search for a material for the wall, Kotori the windows, and Umi the roof.

The trio make their way to the marketplace shortly. It may still be a little difficult for them to grasp the whole idea of material uses but, with Kotori's limited knowledge and a few questions they asked to the seniors, they managed to figure out where they can search without having to worry about getting scammed.

"…hmm… bricks are pretty tough but, don't you think we can go for marble?" Honoka asked her friends as she looked over the notes that Kotori wrote.

"Hmm...they certainly are not as expensive as the real world's marble and it looks pretty classy too…" Kotori commented.

"Will it be as hard to process, though? How do we build our home later?" Umi asked.

"I'm not quite sure myself but Nozomi-senpai said that we are not supposed to worry about that." Honoka answered.

"Still, I wouldn't want to cause too much trouble for Eli-senpai. We just got to know her recently and—well, we aren't that comfortable with each other yet. I'm afraid that we will make things go bad." Umi said.

"Hng…should we stick with concrete then? I think that's the average building material?" Kotori suggested.

"Uh…How about we use natural rock? It looks decent…" Honoka said.

"Natural rock? I doubt it will be easy to assemble them correctly. I mean, we need to cut it somehow, right?" Umi said.

"Again, we wouldn't know. We were just told to get the sample materials. Maybe we should just pick anything we can get?" Honoka said as she continued to deliberate.

"Uh, alright… hmm…then, maybe I should just get crystal clear glasses or something similar for the windows…" Kotori said.

"I wonder if the common clay roof is good enough? Maybe I should go for the metal roof instead…?"

The trio drifted into silence as they pored over the note. They all tried so hard to think of any flaws for the materials theywere deciding on but they could not really think of anything.

Honoka kept on thinking of getting unusual materials instead of thinking about its uses, Kotori was too scared of getting an overly fragile material, while Umi was focused on the difficulty of setting up the material itself.

A few minutes passed but none of them have made their decision or shared their ideas. Soon after, just as they were about to decide, the trio noticed a woman pass by—a woman wearing an armor complete with a mask, both of which are light blue and purple in color with a few turquoise green highlights. Her body is slim and fit and her emphasized bust appears to almost match a specific senior's.

The woman's hair color cannot be seen but it's clear that she has a beautiful bright yellow skin and her thin lips is a natural peach color. Her face may have been covered with mask but everyone could imagine how beautiful she might be without it. The trio are now in doubt whether they might've seen a Digimon and even Kotori had to use her Digimon Scanner to make sure that the woman is certainly not a digimon.

"Excuse me, can I get a dozen of digi-mystic ore?" the woman asked the patient seller.

"Sure, is this an official business?" the seller asked.

"No, it's personal business. Please use my personal wallet." she replied.

"Understood."

The trio stared blankly at the woman and the seller as they wondered if there are actually special materials in the Digital World that they can use to build a home. Since the notes that they have written are only limited to their knowledge of the real world's materials, perhaps there is a catalogue they could've asked for from the start.

* * *

Meanwhile,

The three youngest girls had the little black haired girl as their guide and they ebrowsed many shops and stands but they still couldn't decide what they wanted to use. Niko isn't really that helpful but she does have a character that makes Maki very talkative—or pissed off.

"Listen! I won't buy candies as a sample! It's not even the right material!" the red haired girl said clearly.

"Huh? I told you I'm not saying you should submit that as a material. You could just buy it for me!" Niko replied.

"And why is that?" Maki crossed her arms,

"Because I'm a humble, cute girl who deserves all the sweets in this world!" Niko said proudly.

"Huh?! The heck is that, I don't get it!" Maki replied.

"But you will get diabetes sooner than anyone else here-nya!" Rin said.

"What the hell did you just say?!" Niko complained.

"N-Now-now…" Hanayo tried to shift their attention—which fortunately for her, worked.

"Why don't we all just get what we want? I'm sure there should be catalogue or uh… a guide…somewhere?"

"Huh? You shouldn't really trust the official guide, you know. Maybe some are helpful but, in reality, purchasing from the official shop is always much more expensive than buying from players. The only things that they sell are their brand and trustworthy service or item. These materials aren't new, you know, and many people have been using them for crafting. There are some players who might be still stuck with the old prices so you can get them cheap from the marketplace outside the city…" Niko explained.

"Heh—I think trust is worth the money. I would rather get expensive stuff than get fake dirt…" Maki replied.

"Are you trying to make a foundation with dirt?!" Niko exclaimed.

"O-Of course not! I'm just thinking of a material that looks like beach sand but is as strong as the usual stone foundation!" Maki replied.

"For me, I'm still a little confused with the word 'bones'-nya! Do I have to get actual bones to build a home?"

"Uh, they're not exactly bones, you know. She was talking about the parts that used to make the base shape of the home itself. It could be wood, it could be metal. Many people suggest metal, though, because it's strong…" Niko said.

"Uh, what about, Fences? I don't really know what kind of fence will look good on our home…I mean, wouldn't it be better if we wait and see how it will turn out first before deciding?"

"We are meant to not know what the others will get and how our materials will fit with each other. It's just like gambling your life away with these card sets." Niko said.

"Let me guess, you like to gamble your life away with those card sets, then keep losing, so you sell them instead?" Maki said.

"G-gh….it's nothing like that, you know! I just happen to think that it worth more to sell those card sets than opening it…"

"Really? I still think you are just being a loser…" Maki said.

"Ehehe—anyhow, we really should keep our discussion focused on the building materials…" Hanayo said, trying to get them to focus on the topic.

"Sheesh—yeah, she is right. But for real, I never expected Nozomi to get those cards from the set that I sold. I should've tried to open it…"

"Maybe that's your karma." Maki said.

"The heck is with that! There's no such thing as karma! It's just luck!" Niko stated clearly.

"E-Everyone…let's just…look for materials?" Hanayo said—still with the intention to get them to focus.

* * *

The City of Memory, Housing Wards — Digital World;

Eli and Nozomi searched through the area, keeping their eyes at the signs on each vacant lot in the area. The lands are available in a variety of sizes and the two discussed which land they should pick—considering the number of people they need to house and the budget they currently have in their treasury.

"Hmm… the medium size seems affordable for a starter at least… if we purchase this one, we can afford the building interior as well…" Eli said.

"Remember that housing is going to be popular as soon as they open this place for the non-S-Rank members. If you purchase the medium one, you might not be able to purchase the big one… at least not right away." Nozomi added.

"I knew that. But if we purchase the large land, we might not be able to purchase the interior."

"Let me remind you one name: Maki Nishikino."

"You're telling me to just let her supply our budget? No way!" Eli retorted.

"Now-now, Ericchi, you shouldn't be too ashamed to let her do that. The truth is that we all aim for the fun of being together and, besides, it won't hurt you to let me live my dream, right?' Nozomi replied with her playful smile.

"Your….dream?" Eli tilts her head slightly.

"I want to live in a big house, with you as the _father_ of my children… then maybe Nikocchi will be the pet…"

"N-Nozomi! I'm not a guy! How many times I have to tell you that I'm not?" Eli replied as her face turned bright red.

"It's not like I'm interested in guys, Ericchi… you're just going to play the role—which you already are playing right now…" Nozomi replied.

"Huh?"

"A father like you—searching for a home to live in, accompanied by a wife like me and worrying about how you can live all of us. Then maybe soon you're also going to worry about us not having enough privacy?"

"W-what? What privacy?"

"Oh—Ericchi! You know, _privacy_ to expand the family…"

"W-what?! Should I tell you again that I'm—!" Eli pauses.

Nozomi quietly stares at her with the playful smile still on her face.

Eli sighed.

"Alright, I get it. I do want that kind of _privacy_ from time to time. But for real, though, are we even going to do that? People might be able to see…" she said.

"Not if we hog a special room for both of us, the medium land will allow us to make a house that own two floors, one for the meeting room which includes kitchen and dining room, the other for the basement which will only have two rooms—the big bed room and a bathroom. The large land will allow us to create a big house—four floors, seven private rooms and one big main bedroom, a kitchen, a meeting room that includes the dining room as well, and a big guest room—enough for a family…"

"That sounds luxurious…" Eli replied.

"No doubt. But we have enough to purchase the whole land along with the house building—that is if they do not pick the expensive samples. We might have to save up again if they happen to pick an expensive sample…" Nozomi said.

"Think we will have to buy a tent as a start?" Eli said—a little smirk on her face, giving out a slight hint of mockery to Nozomi's idea.

"Did you just try to laugh at my idea? Well, not that I mind that. That sounds like the best thing we can do as a back-up plan. Buy this large land and purchase some tents until we have enough to purchase the complete materials and hire some builder Digimon from the lobby."

"You're pretty persistent, huh? But I suppose if you are really sure that we all want the large land…" Eli sighed again.

"Or you should've supported my idea—let the _Rich Girl_ pay for us…" Nozomi said.

"No… not a chance…" Eli replied.

"My card says, you will reverse that opinion as soon as you know what the future holds for us…"

"You didn't even pick your cards…"

"The cards speaks to me, Ericchi, they don't have to be picked up…"

"Whatever—but alright, I'll go buy a large land, but let's just make sure we're in the most strategic position, ok?"

"My, you just love being in a _strategic_ position, don't you? But let's just learn from our experience— the top is always the best…" Nozomi said with her naughty and playful gaze.

"The top is my territory—you're in the bottom." Eli replied.

Nozomi giggled at her response.

"Now, are we still talking about houses?"

* * *

It takes more than five hours for them all to finally decide,

Nozomi and Eli have been waiting in the land that they purchased, along with Maki, Rin, Niko, and Hanayo. The land is huge and surrounded by the rest of the empty lands. Some players have also started to build their homes.

The environment is decent since they purchased one of the lands on the highest elevation.

While they waited for the last trio to show up, they discussed what they have for the project. Apparently, Rin, Hanayo, and Maki took the least expensive yet decent materials while Niko chose materials that are near impossible to get. It's fortunate that Niko's part is going to be for the least needed as well—alas, Nozomi already had a hunch.

"This is ironic. You were telling us to get the least expensive while you basically chose the most expensive material—not only among us but in the digital world as well…" Maki said.

"I-isn't it great though? I mean, I've never knew that materials could enhance a Digimon's happiness and loyalty…" Hanayo said.

"Heh—heh—heh! It's going to be worth it!" Niko said proudly.

"Surely, it will, but we are not going to use our personal treasury for you, Nikocchi. You will have to donate at least 70% the price of your total material cost." Nozomi said.

"70%?! Can't you be any nicer?" Niko exclaimed.

"It's already the least I can do after discussing with Ericchi. Trust me, she wants to make you pay 90% of the price but I told her that my luck will make up for the 20% and there you go—70% and no lower." Nozomi said.

"Heh—honestly, I don't mind if I have to pay 100%..." Maki said.

"That surely will help our treasury…we're a little low in the treasury department after we bought a few tents for us all, just in case we can't finish this in a day." Nozomi said.

"Is that so? Then, I'll do 130%, let's call that as my donation."

Nozomi nodded with a smile—then she glanced over to the quiet blonde who did not protest. Perhaps she is too shy to do so.

"Heeeey…. Maki-chan…." Niko said a little cheekily.

"Maki-chan…? Since when did you start calling me that?!" Maki protested.

"A-Aren't we a close friend? Or… best friends ever since we met?"

"I see where you're going, but no, I'm not paying for you…" Maki said immediately.

"Gh-gh… stingy jerk…" Niko smirked at her.

"What did you say?!"

"Now-now, Nikocchi, Maki-chan…" Nozomi called them out to stop any further argument.

"….don't you think we need to get along? We're about to stay in tents and you two might have to stay with each other. Right Ericchi?" Nozomi said as she looked over to Eli.

Eli is still quiet, though she did not seem to mind the spontaneous idea.

"Huh? We're not getting our own tents?" Maki asked.

"Nope, we need to bond with each other, so—that's why, you all need to be shuffled and sleep with each other as a family." Nozomi replied.

"Ri-ridiculous…"

"Nope, nothing is ridiculous. This is all written in the stars tonight. It will go well—and may even be amusing." Nozomi said.

Soon after she said it, the last trio finally found their way to the land.

"Haaa—I'm sorry! We got lost!" Honoka said loudly.

"Honoka made a mistake with her reading and we went all the way around. That's why it took a while for us to get here." Umi said rather calmly.

"I'm so tired! Please let me take a break!" Kotori said—huffing.

"On the bright side, though! I found a way to create a non-elite club! Apparently, it will cost me a good amount of money to register but I'm set! Tsubasa-chan also recommended a few settings!" Honoka said happily.

"W-wait, a club? We're really about start a club? Why did nobody ask me about that?" Niko asked.

"E-eh? Something wrong?" Honoka asked.

"There definitely is! I mean, if only you discussed this with me, I could've just dragged you all in to my club!"

"Ehh? I never knew you had a club? It didn't say anything in your profile." Kotori said.

"That's because my club is offline right now! There's basically no members so I had to take it offline so I don't have to pay the monthly administration fees!"

"Administration fees? Did your club used to publish something?" Honoka asked.

"It was an idol club and a decent one, I tell you! People are just cowards and left me behind." Niko said.

"Or maybe you're just a terrible leader." Nozomi said bluntly.

"Oi! Do you have to say that?!" Niko protested.

"Still though, an idol club?" Maki lifted her eyebrows—wondering about its purpose.

"Oh—Tsubasa-chan also told me to set the club as an idol club. She said it's the easiest one to level up if we're not after constant battles and focus on social life." Honoka said.

"That's true, an idol club is also the easiest way to become more famous—which mean, selling items will be a breeze for them." Niko said.

"You can't rely on that knowledge." Eli finally spoke up. Her words sounded cold and her eyes didn't seem to show any hint of being impressed with the idea.

"You can be famous, but it won't guarantee that you will own the market. There are many more people who are better than you. Besides…" the blonde turned her cold gaze to the ginger haired girl.

"Tell me, why did you create a club out of nowhere? Do you have a purpose?" she asked.

Honoka remained silent— it's like the answer was stuck on the tip of her tongue.

"Are you always this spontaneous? Or you're just in love with wasting your money for something that you don't even understand? Why would anyone make an idol club just because they want one?" Eli asked.

For some reason, Umi who had admired her from first sight began to doubt her feeling. There's something that makes her angry—other than because Eli did looks like she was hurting her friend's feelings. It was also because Eli was so quick at to judge her friend's action.

"H-hey, Eli, don't you realize that you're also talking to me right now?" Niko said.

"I don't care about you and, unfortunately, you're also the reason why I even thought of it in the first place. Let me tell you that right now, in this kind of crisis, everyone will value their survival needs more than they value their luxury. They need their money—and they will cut off their spending. Unless you're capable of becoming as popular as A-Rise, you are unlikely to carve your name in society. Only some trashy jokes and nothing more would be the best you can do." Eli replied coldly.

Honoka remained silent—there are a lot of truths in those harsh words.

"Excuse me, but I don't like the way you speak like she will do nothing good with it." Umi said politely.

"Then tell me, what's the use of that club to you? Is it any better than building this one home for us all? And before you spit your questionable wisdom at me, let me tell you that we will have to stay here for a long time and reckless spending needs to be prevented at all cost." Eli said.

Umi remained silent. She doesn't know what exactly an idol club could do for their main activity and alas, she also has no idea why an idol club is related to the Digital World and Digimons right now.

"Now-now, Ericchi. It's not like we will not make any money during this time. It's true that we will have to be cautious about what people will do in the future— but that wouldn't be nice of you to use that as your excuse to be a spoilsport. Let her make what she want to make, maybe she is surprisingly good in that?" Nozomi said.

"A-rise didn't build their fame out of nowhere. There was hard work and talent involved. Then if I have to be blunt, they're still too amateur for me. I swear even if I watched them in action for a hundred times, I will still say the same thing over and over…" Eli replied.

"Well—you shouldn't watch them for a hundred times, to begin with. You'll get bored. Plus, if I have to be blunt to you too, Ericchi. Have you ever wondered why they're liked? I may have seen you getting swarmed by your fans, but I've never seen you admired as much as people admire Tsubasa-chan, or Erena-chan, or Anjuu-chan."

"I don't want to be a center of attention like them, mind you. I'm fine with my solitude." Eli replied.

"Are we going to argue some more in this kind of situation, Ericchi?" Nozomi asked in a very-very serious tone, causing the blonde to suddenly react like she knows she is going to be in a big-big trouble.

"Tch—whatever then, I don't care anymore. Just do what you want and tell me what I should do." She said.

"That sounds like a better deal for me, not that I want to put you aside though. I just want you to listen to them some more instead of attacking them immediately."

"I didn't intend to do that—silly. I was just—…!" Eli pauses as her eyes set on how Nozomi crossed her arms at her.

"Fine… I'll listen…" she sighed heavily.

"Good. Then let's bring the discussion back to you, Honoka-chan…" Nozomi turned herself around at Honoka.

"E-Eh…? Me?" Honoka replied—still flustered and somewhat nervous from listening to the couple's argument.

"So, tell me… what made you decide to register a club? I thought you knew that it's a little bit too early for you all?" Nozomi asked.

"Eh, well, I was just told that Tsubasa-chan created A-Rise from scratches like this. I want to make one like them too—and uh…. I haven't really submitted the registration…"

"Oh, you're not completely registered yet, huh? You can refund the form." Niko said.

"Eh…? But…?" Honoka tried to reason.

"Hmm...if that's the case, then you can refund it and let's all use what we already have." Nozomi said.

Honoka seems to be slightly disappointed.

"Uhn…but..what about the settings? I've written them all in the registration form—I just need to complete it with the club name…" she said.

"You can change settings and club names anytime, so if you want to use the same setting, just hand that form to me and let me copy it to my club." Niko said.

"Ok then!" Honoka replied, she seems to cheer up with the solution offered.

"Then, if you don't mind, I will have Ericchi take a look at it and tweak it to fit our condition." Nozomi said.

"Ok! I don't mind!" Honoka replied again.

* * *

While the third years were discussing…

Honoka, Umi, Kotori and their juniors are taking a stroll around the housing area. Nozomi said that it will take a pretty long time so they should spend their time on something else.

Watching the night over in Digital world is so much different than the night in their world. They've never been here at night, nor have seen the number of virus Digimon hovering in the sky and littering the streets. It's so close to the sight of demon armies getting ready to invade the innocent—except it's not going to happen like that.

Those Virus Digimons are as tame as the usual Digimon that they see in the daylight. They also seem to be fond of their tamers as well. Despite the affection toward their tamers, some Digimon do look like they're about to maul whoever is in their way—and most of their tamers don't look that friendly as well.

Honoka isn't afraid of that, though. Instead, she is intrigued with the idea of a Dark Digimon being a loving and warmhearted Digimon—like Nozomi's Lady perhaps? Maybe she has never actually spent her time with Lady, but just from seeing her for a second gives out that kind of feeling.

"Hey, have any of you talked to Nozomi-senpai's Digimon? The one called Lady? She was a Lady Devimon, right?" Honoka asked cheerfully.

"Uh… I think I've seen her, but I've never really talked to her…" Kotori said.

"Same. I've also never seen her in action before." Umi said.

"I've talked to her for a pretty long time. She is very gentle unlike what people always say about her species." Hanayo said.

"Heh—according to Angel, Lady is pretty mischievous, but she isn't evil. She also said that she is also very protective especially to Nozomi and her." Maki said.

"Gaomon said that Lady is very caring too-nya! She was contacting him and asked him about his condition!" Rin added.

"Hehe—I guess scary digimons aren't always bad, right?" Honoka said cheerfully.

"Are you thinking of evolving Agumon into a dark digimon?" Kotori asked.

"Hnn…can he?" Honoka asked.

"Yep, Agumon can take the dark path—so instead of turning into a regular greymon, he can turn into Blue-Greymon, which will turn into Blue MetalGreymon or SkullGreymon—then lastly will become Black War Greymon. They're said to be the strongest Fighter Virus Digimon that ever existed." Kotori said.

"Now-now, isn't that just an outdated information?" a voice that they have never heard before said.

The girls turned their attention to the source of the voice.

A female official member approached with a few documents stashed in her waist bag. Her face was covered with a helm and a Digimon that looked like a cupid with four pairs of white wings on his back and a pair of small wings on his head between his short blonde hair. A purple mark was drawn on his face and his light blue eyes was shining as if it was glaring at the girls.

"W-what Digimon is that? Why does he look so intimidating?" Maki whispered to Hanayo. Hanayo carefully scanned him using her digivice.

 _Lucemon (Lv? / ?%)_

 _Type : Vaccine_

 _Attribute : Light_

 _Owner : ?_

 _Personality : Brainy_

"Lucemon….." Hanayo whispered back.

"Lucemon?" Maki wondered.

"Ah—sorry to interrupt the nice chat, hehe…" The official member said.

"Hmm…didn't I see you in the marketplace before?" Honoka asked—she definitely noticed the similar shape of lips, skin color, and body shape.

"You did? Well, if you did, then you probably did. I'm here to do the same task—assisting players to build their homes."

"Ah—ok!" Honoka replied cheerfully.

"Say though, lovely girls, do you all happen to have any trouble with building your home?" the official member asked gently.

"Uhmm… I'm not sure. We are all not part of the discussion! We were the ones who chose the building materials though!"

"I see, then I assume these peoples who are currently discussing are professionals?" the official member asked again.

"Uh, yes? One of them is an S-rank." Honoka replied.

"I see, if that's the case, I'm convinced. S-rank members are always our premium members and they received the guide book on how to build a home way earlier than the other players. You can browse the guide book from this friend of yours." the official member said.

"Uh…say though, can we still pick one for ourselves?" Kotori asked.

"Ah, yeah, we kind of feel bad if we have to ask for that all the time." Umi added.

"Sure, but it still nice if you can save up your memory spaces. There will be a few more system changes to be implemented after the next maintenance. Then about your food and drinks, since it's not quite real food, they will be able to last until you use it. So it is suggested that you purchase a big refrigerator—especially since there will be nine of you here, right?"

"H-how do you know?" Honoka asked.

"Y-yeah…we never said that there will be nine of us." Hanayo said— her eyes still set on the small Digimon who remained quiet behind this very official member, making her very nervous.

The woman pauses, no one can tell what expression she made until she smiled softly and finally gave her response.

"Your names are registered on the land data."

"Ahh! Ok! Hehe!" Honoka replied.

"Sheesh, why would you ask something like that anyway? She is an official member, of course she knows!" Maki said.

"B-By the way!" Kotori said to the official member.

"Hmm?" The woman replied.

"Is Lucemon your Digimon? I seem to not be able to see the owner's name from scanner." Kotori said.

"A-ahaha! Yes! I was about to ask the same question!" Hanayo added.

"Hmm… is he my Digimon? That's not a question that can be simply replied with a 'yes' or a 'no'…"

"Eh…?" the girls are flustered.

"If you were asking 'is he my digimon', then you might probably ask if he is my partner—which, as a matter of fact, I should respond with a yes, though at the same time, you were also asking if I own him, which I should respond with a no. All Digimons do not belongs to anyone but themselves. Just like human beings. Calling one Digimon as a possession of someone is like saying that one is in an intimate relationship with a Digimon—which is wrong." The official replied,

"E-Eehhh?!" the girls raises their eyebrows in surprise.

"T-Then, we've been mistaken!" Honoka said.

"I never knew that it could be interpreted like that!" Kotori said.

"T-That do sounds so wrong in so many levels!" Umi said.

"G-Gaah! Why have we never thought of that?" Hanayo asked in her panic.

"C-Could we have been offending them-nya?!" Rin said.

"W-well, at least now we know that we shouldn't talk like that." Maki said.

The official member giggled in her amusement.

"I'm just messing with you all. It's fine for you to speak like that. That's what everyone always says anyway." She said between her giggle—along with Lucemon who seems to be somewhat amused as well.

"You don't need to worry about offending anyone with such thing. At times when we were talking about _our owner_ , we also say like, 'my human' or something of that sort. No one would think about something further than a friendly relationship between a human and a Digimon." Lucemon said.

The girls are surprised when they heard Lucemon speak to them.

"What? Why are you all staring at me like that? It isn't weird for a Digimon to talk to humans, right?" Lucemon said.

"E-Eh! No! Not at all! We were just surprised because… uh…of a rumor about you…." Kotori said.

"A-And your eyes are pretty scary! I thought you were angry at me!" Hanayo said.

"Huh? No way, this is just my face. But heh—as what you said, it's not like it's my first time being misunderstood like that. I am Lucemon, one of the Seven Demon Lords in the Digital world. Many call me as The Pride, but really, the only pride I have is being myself." Lucemon said.

"He really is proud…" Maki whispered to herself with a smirk on her face.

"Not like I'm the only proud Digimon, you see? There also Piedmon and some others. Why would anyone just judge me as the worst and not the best?" Lucemon crossed his arms.

"Now-now, Lucy. Behave yourself, this is still an official business." the official member said.

"Right, sorry. So are there any more questions regarding any sort of business?" Lucemon asked.

"Uh….I guess?" Honoka replied.

"What is this question?" Lucemon asked again.

"Are you a female or male-nya?" Rin asked immediately before Honoka were able to ask her question.

"Easy, I'm neither. Digimons don't have genders or at least—we never bother to think of such. It was until the digimon knows about human being and their world, they started to try to identify if they are male or female." Lucemon replied.

"Oh…ok-nya!" Rin replied.

"So, you're identifying yourself as….?" Honoka tried to ask the question.

Lucemon tried to think for a moment.

"Well, I'd say I'm female because she called me with such a feminine name, but I don't want to be in despair with the thought of losing my asset size to her. I don't even have any asset with me right now!" he said as he stare into the official member.

"Asset?" Rin and Honoka tilts their heads together.

"Bust…they are always the asset that everyone talks about!" the official member said proudly as she taps on both of her own bust that was covered by her official armor.

Maki snorted at the scene.

"Heh—you don't always need a big bust to be proud of yourself. I know someone who is so full of pride and she barely has any bust… or at least, no one can see them."

"Really? That's amazing…but still, I'd feel better if I'm identified as a male. When I grow up, I can be the most handsome Digimon and my human can still be the most beautiful human that ever existed." Lucemon said.

"Now-now, Lucemon. You may be blonde and have a pair of icy eyes, but you're pretty sweet, aren't you?"

"Hah! It's not like there are no sweet blondes with icy blue eyes." Lucemon said with a giggle.

"That someone specific is not sweet at all—more like a shy daft to me." The official member smirked mockingly.

"But anyway, are there anymore questions?" the official tried to keep their conversation on track.

"Yes! About clubs!" Honoka said loudly.

"Clubs? What about it?" Lucemon asked.

"Uh, I heard from a friend of mine… she said a non-elite club has a lot of benefits that can be useful to me as a beginner. She didn't tell me about them but told me to just make a club anyway and find out myself."

"Well, certainly, a club can go hunting together without worrying about the loot. As what you already know, all loots and experiences will be distributed to the party. While you only allowed to take about 7 people in a party, you can get as many people as possible with a club. As long as you're standing near each other, experiences will be good to go. By default, all loot will be taken by the person who got the first hit on the Wild Digimon, though you can always change that in the settings." Lucemon explained.

"I see, but what is the maximum number of people that a club can accommodate?" Honoka asked.

"You can take 48 if you like. But are you really going to that many members?" Lucemon replied.

"Uh….guess not…" Honoka smirked.

"Nine should be the most effective number. You don't really have a huge club battles, but there will be tournaments that require at least nine members. You should consider joining those." Lucemon continued.

"Also, to add to his explanation—a club will get extra training points, depending on their club type. Having your own estate will also benefit the club member since you can all set up your own training ground." the official said.

"Question! Question!" Honoka said loudly.

"Yes?" Lucemon and the official replied at the same time.

"What's the use of training points if we can train our Digimon ourselves?" Honoka asked.

"That's a good question. To help you understand, training points can be traded for real money—which is basically the pay for the trainer. This system was created so that people think that digimon training is limited. It was also set-up to control the price range for people who make money by becoming a professional trainer. There were plenty of overpriced and underpriced training before this system was created." Lucemon explained.

"But why do we make people limit their digimon training?" Honoka asked.

"Because many humans still think that Digimons are non-living things. Back when the system was still in beta testing, a trainer actually treated a Digimon like a play thing. He used so many items on his partner, ignoring all the protests he made. He didn't even respond to his Digimon, thinking that it's just automated like in his usual game. Then he used all of his money to train his Digimon for the beta testing phase. It was when the beta testing ended that he took his Digimon out of the training just to test his power in battle." Lucemon replied.

"Who-whoa… that's cruel…" Honoka said.

"Yes, but I'm glad he did it during beta testing—he made us realize the big flaw in the system." Lucemon replied again.

"It's not that it only benefits us, the system also helps players get enough training for their partner Digimon. Not everyone is willing to spend thousands or millions of yen for training—so making them think that the given training point is all they can use for training is probably the best way to keep their digimon trained." the official replied.

"It is also to remind players that not everyone is capable of training one Digimon. A simple human sports training isn't enough. They need an actual combat training." Lucemon replied.

"I see…." Honoka nods.

Umi seems to be intrigued with the idea of becoming a professional trainer and she thought about how to best phrase her question, though before she actually did, the official answered her question as if she was capable of reading minds.

"In order to have one profession, you need to register yourself in the chosen guild. For example, if you want to be a trainer, then you need to register yourself in the trainer guild. If you want to be a chef, then you need to register in the chef guild. I believe someone here knows where they are."

"Yep-yep! I do-I do!" Kotori replied.

"Hehe—I asked Tsubasa-chan about that too! She told me to fetch the registration later, though! She said, being chef isn't as cheap as it is! I should farm more money and ingredients first!" Honoka said.

"That's very true. But it's never wrong to fetch your starter kit to understand the system. There should be manual books and everything else that you need as a beginner." the official replied.

"Really? Then, I should get them!" Honoka replied.

"Tell me, are there any other professions I can take?" Maki asked.

"Hehe, there should be something that is related to music and art, like…an idol?" Hanayo replied.

"Idol? It's a little too much." Maki replied.

"It's not that bad to become an Idol since you have all the assets you need… and also, because becoming an idol is the easiest way to achieve popularity, it certainly will help your game play. Though, if you want to search around, you can take a look at the professions list in the lobby." the official replied.

"What's the relation between being an idol and playing Digimon online though? I still don't get it. I mean, what if we make our way through another profession? Will that be different?" Umi said.

"Like what she said, popularity. Also, I assume you've heard about the special shop for popular members? It will certainly help you fund your partner's needs. Rising through another profession is fine, but if you're capable of being an Idol, why not?" Lucemon said.

"Hmm…well, to make it much easier to grasp, the purpose of Digimon Online is to raise both inhabitants' skills so it's not only a one-sided advantage. That's why we created the profession system to keep our players skilled while they also raise their Digimon's quality." the official added.

"I see…" Umi nodded.

"So, are there any other questions?" the official asked.

"Uh…maybe not now?" Honoka replied.

"Then, if you happen to have more, you can come to the lobby or ask me if we happen to meet again."

"We usually staying in the Housing Enthusiast Office—it should be the biggest building north of Housing area. But for now, we will have to take another look around. Take care of yourself, ok?" Lucemon said.

"Ok!" Honoka and the other girls replied before they parted from each other.

* * *

After a few hours,

Honoka, Umi, Kotori, Maki, Rin and Hanayo's thoughts went to the three seniors as they step their feet back to their land. What exactly is happening in their discussion? Why are they taking so long?

They knew that the three seniors built a tent in the very area for their discussion—though it's so strange that the land is so quiet when all six of them were silent. The tent can't be that sound proof, can it?

To be honest, though, they are very tired right now. It is possible that their bodies that are too tired from checking out with whatever thing they can mess with in the land. On the bright side, they started to enjoy hanging out with each other.

"Hnng….I wonder if they are alright?" Honoka broke the silence but the rest of the girls seem unresponsive. Their eyes are heavy and their bodies barely have any stamina to move. They lay down on the empty land and used their own bags as pillows–except for Kotori who produced her yellow pillow out of nowhere.

Honoka's eyes slowly began to close. The night seemed darker to her eyes, even if the stars and the holographic digital sky shine brighter than the night she had always seen in her world. Eventually, she finally succumbed to her dream land along with the rest of the girls.

Minutes passed and a blonde girl finally walked out of the tent by herself, carrying a stack of paper on her arm and with her digivice attached to her head.

"Sheesh, those two—too quick to fall asleep. I can't really blame them, though. Nozomi didn't get to take a nap today and Niko is probably tired from whatever business she had…" she mumbled to herself.

"….uuhh…it's pretty dark here …" she continued as she searched the function in her digivice—wearing her light blue goggle and seeing the night through its light.

"Eh…?" her eyebrows shot up from her surprise at seeing the sleeping bodies.

"They're asleep too? How can I present this if they're all asleep?" she sighed after.

She took a moment to think before she returned to the tent to place the stack of papers and searched through the pile of items in the tent. Without her noticing, her movement caused the purplenette to wake up—and she noticed someone is moving on top of her.

She was about to tease her, but—wouldn't it be much more interesting if she knew what exactly the other was trying to do? She decided to keep her eyes closed and use her other senses.

The blonde stopped moving when she managed to find what she needed. She moved out of the tent so quickly—which caused the purpnelette to wonder why she didn't get the intimate act she expected as her girlfriend. Nozomi opened her eyes wide and began to search around for the blonde. She is definitely not in the small tent so she crawled to the entrance and took a peek outside.

Eli built the tents and it didn't take long to finish two tents since they purchased the instant tents. Nozomi smiled at the scene she witnessed and she would have helped out, but…again, wouldn't it be much more interesting to know what Eli would do next?

She had to wait for a while before her curiosity was satisfied because Eli took a minute to observe each of the girls. When she finally made her decision, she placed her fingers gently on the bluenette—surprising her and causing her to jump cautiously.

"A-Ah! S-Sorry I fell asleep, senpai!" Umi said a little loudly. Eli remained silent as she placed her own finger on her lips.

"Oh…." Umi nods when she realizes that she shouldn't be too loud right now.

"You look like a strong girl, can you help me move your friends into the tents?" the blonde whispered.

"Yes, certainly." Umi replied.

"Let's start from your friends, Honoka and Kotori—are those their names?"

"Yes!"

"Alright then… let's move Honoka first."

"Ok!"

The two carefully lifted Honoka— who was deep in her slumber— and moved over to one of the tents before slowly placing her down. Next, they were about to continue with Kotori—but….

"W-wait, senpai…" Umi said.

"Hmm?" Eli replied gently.

"Can we…. Place Kotori somewhere else?"

"Why?" Eli wondered.

"Because she is fragile—and Honoka is a bad sleeper. She would move around and probably kick someone in her sleep."

"I understand, but we need to fill one tent with three people. Who do you think should be there with her?" Eli asked.

"Hmm…" Umi looked around.

"Let's go with her!" she continued as she pointed to the orange haired girl who had been sleeping with one of her legs on top of Maki's head.

"Rin? She looks like a bad sleeper too." Eli said.

"Yes, exactly. Let's just place them together." Umi nodded with a serious expression.

Eli was quiet for a moment before she giggled at her choice. Umi was slightly surprised by how gentle Eli's voice is while also appreciating the moment she saw her senior make such a friendly giggle. Perhaps Eli isn't that bad after all.

"That sounds interesting. Let's place her there." the blonde said.

The two proceeded to lift Rin carefully, making sure to not wake up the other two juniors. Nozomi smiled in amusement, wondering who the two will choose next.

When she tried to think of who would fit in the group—she realized that the person who's sleeping in her tent is also a very bad sleeper. In fact, she has started to move her feet to another direction. With a mischievous smile on her face, she giggled and took her chance to bully this specific little girl.

She lifted her up, it was as easy as picking up a pillow— then ran out of the tent. Eli and Umi noticed her and immediately wondered what she is going to do with Niko.

When she got closer, she stopped and offered Niko like a sword to a king.

"Ericchi, this is my offering to you. Please take it."

"I-it?" Umi emphasized on how Nozomi called her.

"Yep, a Nikocchi to fulfill the demon tent's belly." Nozomi replied with serious voice.

Eli chuckled to her,

"There, Nozomi, you're pretty evil aren't you? But I can't really complain. Niko has been punching my papers while I was working on the plan and research."

"Another bad sleeper then? Let's chuck her in." Umi said.

"Alright. Then I shall do as you wish, Advisor Sonoda!" Nozomi said before she ran to where Honoka and Rin were. Umi and Eli didn't know how she placed her, but it seemed to have been a little rough. Will she wake up from that?"

Nozomi returned to where Eli and Umi stood and they waited for any reaction but it seems that the tent is quiet and calm—for now.

"Looks like they're deep in their slumber…" Eli said.

"Honoka won't be awake before someone actually pours water on her. The last time she and Kotori had a sleepover in my home, she was somehow sleeping with her body on top of me and her feet on top of Kotori. We were lucky that it was raining at midnight, otherwise, we would not have been able to get any water from the windows and we would not have been able to wake her up." Umi said.

"So is Nikocchi. The last time she and Ericchi stayed in my apartment, she kicked my face. She should be glad that I still can snuggle with Ericchi—if Ericchi isn't my girlfriend and I didn't have the liberty to put myself in her embrace, I'll throw her to the floor."

"I guess everyone are has a bloodthirst against bad sleepers. But now, should we continue moving these girls?" Eli said.

"Sure, Ericchi. I'll help out. Let's move the fragile girl in because, even though it's not quite a real world, it's still pretty cold at night, so we better move her first," Nozomi said.

"Ah, right, let's move Kotori first. I wonder where she should be though…?" Umi asked.

"My tent is warm, I can guarantee it." Nozomi said.

"Alright, then let's move Kotori to your tent." Eli said.

"W-wait, will she sleep with Eli-senpai too, then?" Umi asked.

"Hmm? Not really, I'm planning to place…hmmm what was her name again? Hanayo?" Eli said.

"Ericchi prefers cold places to sleep in rather than warm places. But she sometimes prefers warm than cold as long as there are some extra wet pillows and a warmer included." Nozomi replied.

"Extra wet pillows and a warmer…?" Umi flustered.

"P-Put that aside… let's not think about that shameless statement," Eli said a little nervously.

"Shameless statement? Then… did you mean…..?" Umi looked very troubled.

"Umi, Let's move Kotori now. Let's go!" Eli said again, trying to change the topic. Though, Umi's fearful eyes were still locked on Nozomi's mischievous smile—by all means, she grasped the idea that Nozomi planted in her head.

"H-here you go, Umi, please move her, ok?" Eli said after she lifted Kotori and handed her to Umi.

"O-Oh…." Umi snapped out of her thoughts.

She finally walked to Nozomi's tent and carefully places Kotori inside. Eli sighed in relief while Nozomi seems to be thinking of her next move. But before the two senior were able to make discuss their junior's reaction, Umi ran out of the tent and quickly picked up a girl from the ground near them, then ran back again to the tent.

"H-Hanayo is inside already! I'm out! Good night!" Umi said before she dashed inside the tent.

Eli and Nozomi blinked, amazed at how Umi seems to be very nervous when she looked at them just a moment ago.

"W-wow…did she really grasp the idea of us being intimate?" Eli said.

"Well, I certainly was talking about that. She isn't wrong." Nozomi replied.

"You shouldn't do that, Nozomi. The poor girl might have been traumatized about it."

"Nah—don't sweat it. My card says, she just needs to loosen up from her _Yamato Nadeshiko_ persona." Nozomi answered with a playful smile.

"Sheesh, Nozomi. But if you says so…I don't have any complaints." Eli sighed.

"Now, shouldn't you move this last Princess in with you? I'll help you out." Nozomi said.

"Right, Maki is going in my tent. I hope she isn't—…" Eli paused as she saw Maki wake up and walk to the tent she is supposed to be in.

"Guess you don't have to. What a good girl…" Nozomi said.

"You should get some rest, Nozomi. We will start building the home once everyone agrees and, perhaps, also call out our Digimons to help out?"

"Well, I don't mind if I have to stay up late. It will be our digimon who will work anyway." Nozomi replied.

"No silly, you will have to work too. Now get some rest, I'll see you in the morning. I'll also have to make sure that everyone works if they all agree to it." Eli said before she gently pressed her lips on her girlfriend's forehead and turned to head to the tent.

"Wait, Ericchi…"

"What is it, honey?" Eli asked.

"There's still something I want to discuss with you." Nozomi said.

Now that she speaks with a serious manner, Eli feels like it really is something important.

* * *

Meanwhile—the Real World;

"Gggaaaaaahhhh!" Tsubasa held her hair in frustration. Erena and Anjuu only smirked at her.

"I can't believe it! Now we completely lost contact?!" Tsubasa said.

"It can't be helped, Tsubasa. The connection has been cut off for good. They said the Virus Source is too close to the area and turning it on may anger it and endanger the crowd crossing the bridge between the domains." Erena said.

"Well, can't we just anger it anyway then beat the hell out of it? There should be more than a hundred S-Ranked players by now, right? Will it wipe us all out?" Tsubasa said.

"The thing is, we don't know what this Virus Source is capable of. The official said that it's a very unusual virus and that it had devoured more than a hundred digimon soldiers. They even tried to use the destroyer—or should we say, the forbidden Digimons including the eaters— yet they were also devoured. Killing attempts also seem to fail. It's more like this Virus Source is an immortal being." Anjuu explained.

"Say, would Yggdrasil have any idea of how to get rid of it?" Tsubasa asked.

"Don't be ridiculous. Yggdrasil would most likely blame humans for not being able to solve this. Or maybe he won't care enough as long as this creature won't mess up the Digital World." Erena said.

"Well, why won't he? I mean, because of this, his beloved Digital World will be populated by humans, right?"

"He needed the help of humans to manage his wild Digimon in the first place So, yes, it's still impossible for him to care." Erena sighed.

"Actually…" Anjuu said—her eyes are set on her Digivice's screen.

"I searched. There's an official announcement about Yggdrasil's response regarding to this incident." she continued.

Tsubasa and Erena curiously waited for Anjuu to explain the announcement.

"He said the Royal Knights are being dispatched to the Bridge Domain right now—they will be searching for this creature and put an end to it."

"Dispatching the real royal knights? Now that's really something. But what if they are defeated?" Tsubasa asked.

"That can't be. If they are defeated, then who can stop it? We S-Ranked players are already no match for the real royal knight." Erena said.

"Wouldn't it be interesting to know though? I mean, let's just say that if this creature we call 'The Virus Source' defeated them, what kind of Heroes that will rise up to save the world?" Anjuu said.

* * *

Deep in the Bridge Domain.

The domain exists to increase the distance between the Digital World and the Real world. It is supposed to be left empty and barren but, ever since the incident happened, many digimon and officials gathered near the entrance. They have also started to build a small plot of farm to supply their battle.

They knew that this will be nothing like the usual 'maintenance' that they've been doing. Even the Royal Knights feel uneasy about having to do this task.

A white digimon with Wolf and Dinosaur hand—famously called Omegamon— sat near his fellow knights and investigated about the things that were being discussed, from the most minor incident to the greatest. They are very, very curious about what might have caused this Virus Source to appear all of a sudden.

The fact that the creature contains a partial essence that has been identified as human soul, and it is mixed with a pile of digital essence intrigues them. What may have caused this creature to be so strong? Will they be able to defeat it or should they run away without trying? After all. If they are defeated, they will have to face the consequence and be absorbed like all other defeated soldiers.

Another digimon, with a big red robe, a metal shield and a long lance—called as Dukemon— started a conversation.

"Omegamon, are you nervous?" he asked.

"My friend, this is about life and death. We must be very careful and not be defeated, else we might have to face the consequence of being absorbed by this unknown creature." Omegamon replied.

"We all have been there, remember the eaters?"

"Aye, I remember them very well. Since they're controlled by our system, we dispatched them all and hoped for the best yet, there was no sign of success after a few hours. The report says that the creature can't be corrupted by it and it devours them like a food instead. There's no sign of any reaction or weakening power. It gets stronger and stronger each time we made an attempt… " Omegamon replied.

"Ah, now that you have mentioned it, I fear the same. What if we all happen to be defeated? Will that creature possess our power as well? If that happens, then no one can possibly win against it—not even King Yggdrasil himself." Dukemon said.

"Now—!" a loud female-like voice interrupted.

The two Royal Knights turn around and saw the slim pink armored knight.

"Lord Knightmon!" Omegamon and Dukemon said.

"Aren't you two a little bit too negative? We aren't that weak—and you two were the ones who told me that humans aren't that bad." she said.

"You're certainly right, Lord Knightmon. We might have been too nervous to face this creature because we don't even know how strong it is or any real information about it. Alas, we can't even measure its power. If they happen to be as strong as King Yggdrasil, we might just be screwed for pissing it off or end up giving it with our power."

"No one will provide it with any more power. We should all retreat when we know that we cannot win." Lord Knightmon said.

Dukemon and Omegamon remained silent, astonished by what Lord Knightmon said to them. Not that it's something amazing or wrong, it's just unusual for their fellow knight to speak like that.

"Lord Knightmon…are you….nervous too?" Omegamon asked.

"W-whatever are you saying! I'm not! It's just that we should all act smart, right?" Lord Knightmon replied.

"You are right. We all have to understand when to give up." Dukemon said.

"Craniumon told me that he is about to develop a cannon to test the potential of this creature. The potential of this canon will be as strong as our power combined. If the test fails, we should all abandon the Bridge Domain and plan a new strike." Lord Knightmon said.

"How many times will we fire that canon?" Omegamon asked.

"One. The canon can only be used once." Lord Knightmon replied.

"I see,…then, perhaps, we can all shoot some extra fires—to deal twice the damage to this creature." Omegamon said.

"Good thinking, but we need to be further away from the canon since it will explode after it fired its shot." Lord Knightmon said.

"Understood. Now, should we all prepare for it?" Omegamon asked to confirm.

"The Canon should be ready by this afternoon. Let us all hope for the best." Lord Knightmon said.

* * *

Back to the Digital World;

The night began to fade and lights started to shine again. The sunlight could've been fake, but it's bright enough to blind someone's eyes after the long slumber. Honoka finally awakened and she found herself alone in the tent.

When the ginger girl headed out of her tent to satisfy her curiosity, she found herself and the tent set up in a poor location . Alas, she is not even in the middle of the land, she is so close to the border!

"Whoaaa! Why did I sleep here?!" Honoka exclaimed.

Despite her loud voice, nobody responded to her since they are busy building their home. Eli has been working on checking up plans while her Renamon is working hard to match her plan to the real work. Lady is tasked with tidying up the details while Angel supports Birdramon with lifting the building materials. Umi and her Penguinmon had been tasked with some ridiculous job—but they are the one who asked for it anyway since, they said this building job is a good physical and mental training. The amount of effort and discipline are very high on the two. Hanayo and her Sunflowmon, a medium-sized green Digimon with a sunflower head are painting on the walls— it's not quite real paint but still works like paint. There's also Gaomon who is currently partnered with Rin with transporting materials and they also seem to be doing it as their training.

Who is still missing? Other than the people she can see, there were still two people missing—or so she thought. When her eyes found the other tent not too far away from the construction, she found one of the missing girls with her Digimon—a Soulmon, currently on cooking duty and they seem to be enjoying themselves. Now that she is reminded of it, she wonders if it also means that Niko has taken the Chef Profession.

Why didn't she tell her?

Putting that thought aside, she needed to know what she can do today. She can't just sit there and do nothing. Because, other than it isn't a nice thing to do, it will also make her feel bad.

Before moving towards the rest of the girls, she remembered that she needed to pick up her Digimon in the lobby. She looked around—ignoring the sight of her neighbors were working on their own homes as well. All she had in her mind are two questions: Would there be a nearby shortcut to the lobby? Or perhaps she should approach the girls first before getting her Digimon?

* * *

 **Also, I just made an "Archive of Our Own" account! I will probably remake _"Secret Romance", "The Fool's Journey"_ and some other fan fiction like _"Atelier Kotori" and upload it there! ^^_**


	8. Ch8 : The Mess in The City

**Ok, thank you for waiting!**

 **Thanks to LightRiver33 too for the editing!**

 **Thanks to you for comment/faves/follows!**

* * *

Weeks passed…

The girls have finally completed the house, both exterior and interior. It took a long time to complete each of the rooms and finishing the basic bedroom for each of the girls was harder than they thought. Honoka's room was especially difficult because she kept changing her mind about how she wants the room to look like.

"Hnnnn….Maybe I want the bed to be in the corner, it feels like I'm going to fall down anytime when I can't feel the wall against me." Honoka said to Agumon.

"Nnngh….Honoka-chan, you've changed your mind for the 10th time. I'm tired of pushing it around!" Agumon complained.

"E-eh? Really? I didn't count!" Honoka replied.

"Gweeh… you didn't even realize you've changed your mind that much? Hhnnnrrggh…alright, I'll move it again, but it should stay like that for the whole year, ok?" Agumon said.

"W-whoa? You are only giving me one last chance?" Honoka said.

"Yep! So you won't move it around too much!" Agumon said.

"That's so unfair Agumon!" Honoka complained.

"It's not! You're making me work so much just to move your room stuff! I want real practices!" Agumon said.

"Ugwwaaah! Fine! I'll think about it first, ok? I'll tell you when I finally decide!" Honoka said.

"Now, what is this noise all about?" someone said from somewhere behind the two. A black haired girl along with a little devil Digimon flying near her came into view.

"Ahh! Niko-senpai! Nice Timing!" Honoka said as she ran to her little senior.

"Huh? Why? What's wrong?" Niko asked.

"Please help me decide!" Honoka said

"Is this about your room again?" Niko replied with one of her eyebrows raised.

"Yes!" Honoka replied energetically.

"Ok, the answer is no. This should be your 10th time asking about the same thing, right?" Niko replied.

"See? Everyone is saying the same thing …" Agumon said.

"Hweeehh!" Honoka groaned.

"Seriously, every time I come to visit you, your first request is to help you arrange your own room. Don't you have anything better to do?" Niko said.

"Like what?" Honoka asked.

"Cook! I thought you wanted to take up the chef profession? You've been ditching your registration quest!"

"It's not that I'm abandoning the plan! It's just….well…every time I cook, Agumon always eats it all!" Honoka said as she points to Agumon.

"Huh? Me…?! But you keep asking me to try it!" Agumon said.

"Sheesh, no excuses. Just get your cuisine ready today and let's go to the city. I'd like to have a companion when I return my quest, you know!" Niko said.

"Ok! Got it!" Honoka replied cheerfully.

* * *

At the other side of the house.

Eli and Nozomi stood in front of their room. The size of the room is twice that of the regular room since it is also occupied by the two of them. Though, since Nozomi wanted to prepare a surprise for her girlfriend, Eli had to sleep in the guest room until Nozomi finally finished with her plan.

Just about an hour before noon, Nozomi finally declared that she is finished with the room. Eli was called to take a look at it and it was Lady and Angel who dragged her to the entrance of the room while Renamon followed them out of curiosity.

As soon as Nozomi and Eli's eyes met, the former smiled proudly and welcomed Eli with a flirty gaze. She beckoned to her and gently pulled the blonde into the inside of the room while their Digimon has to stay outside because the door closed tightly.

A few seconds passed in silence before a very loud shout is heard from the room.

"N-Nozomiii!"

That doesn't sound friendly.

"What on shattering earth you are doing?! This room is too obscene!" Eli complained.

"Eeh? You don't like it?" Nozomi replied.

"It's not that I don't like it! It's just….."

A pause,

"—….what if the other girls come over to visit?! What kind of image will we get-Huh!?"

"Well, it's Exotic though, right?"

"It….It is! But still! This is too obscene! You better change it into something less vulgar!" Eli complained loudly before she walked out of the room with a bright red face.

"Alright, Ericchi, anything for you!" Nozomi said.

Lady and Angel watched Eli walking away with Renamon following her.

"Hngg… we worked hard for that one room." Angel said a little sadly.

"Well, I've already said that the room seems a little too much, but you two wouldn't anyway…" Lady said.

"Now-now, Lady, we always need to go for broke. That's my motto." Nozomi said.

"Huh? Alright. But now, Nozomi-chan, since she rejected it, what kind of room do you want to make?"

"Hmm….right now, I don't really have ideas… what about you, though?" Nozomi asked.

"I'm thinking of something exotic but not…uhm…vulgar…" Lady said.

"Lady, you're classy!" Angel said.

"Not really? W-wait, is that a compliment?" Lady said.

"Well, Angel, tell me what you have in your head." Nozomi said.

"Hehe, let's make something natural and bright?" Angel said.

"Wouldn't it be hard for you two to sleep in a bright room, though? I mean, I find myself to be more at peace when it's dark." Lady said.

"Well, I get tired when it's dark!" Angel said.

"So basically, perfect for sleeping, right?" Lady said.

"Ohh! Now that you mention it, you're right!" Angel said.

"Huh? I thought that was what you intended to say." Lady replied.

"Hmm…so it's a dark room, huh? Maybe we can make it a dim room instead? Ericchi isn't that good with darkness." Nozomi said.

"Ah, true, she hates darkness. Then we just need to get a night lamp." Lady said.

"I have a lot of night lamps!" Angel said.

"Yes, that's true, but those are yours, Angel. We should get a new one for her." Lady said.

"Hmm…actually, I have a better idea…" Nozomi said.

"You do? Then tell us." Lady said.

"Alright, here we go…!"

* * *

Outside the house.

A huge garden is situated next to a medium sized house which was finally built using a variety of house styles combined. It is so close to the look of a fantasy home and is decorated with cute items that fit the classic color of the house— thanks to Niko for the idea and Maki for the _sponsorship_. The house would've been simpler if the girls weren't so dedicated on making money in the game.

Since the girls didn't have to go to school, they had more time to spend on their own businesses. Kotori spent more of her time tailoring clothes and selling them in the marketplace as always, though she is mostly seen sitting on the balcony near the garden and weaving her art. Hanayo cultivated food ingredients. Some are stored in the house while the rest are sold in the marketplace since she used the biggest plot of the garden to grow rice and some fruits. Rin wanted a job that involved a lot of moving and running so she just took a job as patrol guard with her Gaomon. They may rarely be seen inside the house but, whenever they returned for their break, they are always seen near the pond with Digi-Ramen in hand and sitting on the cat and dog cushions which were left on the same spot every day.

Umi, who took a trainer profession, spent most of her time training her Penguinmon along with the other Digimon and she took a part of the garden as a training ground. Right now, she doesn't have any machine to help with training so a traditional punchbag and a small running track are all she had in her area.

Maki, even though she doesn't really appear to be working that much, is often called to be a musician in some places. Other than that, she studies the Digimon Health as part of her plan to become a healer. She received a lot of help from Angel, Nozomi's Angewomon who, in spite of her talent, isn't quite helpful when it comes theories. Maki had to research on her own to find her answers.

As for Lunamon, ever since the incident, she rarely speaks of anything but practice. Along with Lalamon, she studied magic and the wisdom of it. But since Lady—who is usually their teacher— isn't available today, the two of them studied on their own and read books in the small gazebo built in the middle of the rice field. At times, they stopped to help Hanayo with whatever task she is needed to do.

Close to the Gazebo, there's also a small door that leads underground and there were two rooms below. One is Eli's workshop and the other is the bathroom. Most of the time, the girls always find Eli inside the workshop or sitting on the bench in front of the bathroom door but Eli seemed to be somewhere else along with her Renamon for now.

The house is quiet—or at least it was until the sound of Honoka and Niko's voices were heard from the entrance.

"W-wait for me, Niko-senpai!"

"…Hurry up, you slowpoke! We can do one more quest if we are quick!" Niko said as she beckoned to Honoka and Agumon. The scene took everyone's attention for a while, except for Penguinmon and Umi who have been quietly meditating. Maki seemed to have her attention on Niko and Honoka, though after a few seconds, she decided to ignore them and continue with her activity.

The two ran out of the house along with their Digimon as Kotori and Hanayo paused their activity before turning to each other and giggling at how lively the two seemed. They were about to continue their activity but someone appeared from the house.

"Hah—guess I'm too late." a blonde said.

"Eli-senpai? What's wrong?" Kotori asked.

Eli sighed and turned her sight to the ash brunette.

"I was about to call them back to listen to my briefing."

"Eh? What briefing?" Kotori asked.

"Of course it's about your training. We're set on the housing and food so we need to make a schedule for our training."

"T-Training?!" Hanayo and Kotori exclaimed.

"Yes, that's my real purpose being here with you all, right? We need to raise our power and get an S-Rank, then we will go to the depth and cross over to the real world to help out."

"W-what? S-Rank? We just started playing this game!" Hanayo said.

"Didn't you get your Rookie badge?" Eli crossed her arms.

"Y-yes…"

"…and isn't Lalamon capable of becoming Sunflowmon already?" Eli asked again.

"Y-yes…."

"See? Don't play that kind of excuse with me. If you want to get out of this Digital world, you need to practice. I doubt the official will be able to solve this problem soon. You might have to stay for more than a year if all you're doing is waiting." Eli said.

"O-ok!" Hanayo replied nervously.

"Now, since those two are gone, can I trust one of you with this?" Eli offered a memory card.

"M-memory card?" Kotori wondered.

"Yes, each of you should write down your daily schedule in detail, then I will have it read and discuss this at the dinner after you are all finished with it. We will start the practice a week after we decide the schedule." Eli replied.

"O..ok?" Hanayo replied.

"Alright, please hand it to Umi-chan!" Kotori said.

"Huh-what?" Umi snapped out of her concentration. Eli didn't question the decision, instead, she just walked to the bluenette and handed the memory card to her.

"Oh, right, about your deadline for returning that memory card to me… I want it returned by the end of the week before the midnight. If not, everyone will get punishments from Nozomi." Eli said.

"W-what? Punishments?" Kotori, Umi, and Hanayo were surprised.

"Well, Nozomi is the one who gave me that idea and I agreed that something needed to be done to whoever is not disciplined." Eli replied.

"Heh~ if that's the only thing you need us to do, I doubt we need more than a day to do it…" Maki said as she stood up from her seat, taking her laptop and approaching Eli and Umi.

"Give me that, I'll take it." Maki said. Umi handed her the memory card and Maki immediately set up her laptop and quickly operates it. Kotori and Hanayo decided to join them to get a closer look.

Maki started to fill the form and it seems that she has no difficulty accomplishing it.

"Well then, I'll leave this all to you. If you happen to finishby the end of the day, then just hand it over to me, Nozomi or any of our Digimon." Eli said.

"Alright, got it! Just leave it to us…" Maki replied calmly before the blonde smiled faintly and left.

* * *

The City of Memory—Digi-Cooking Guild;

Honoka and Niko stared at the huge crowd, gathered by the restaurant in the building next to the guild. They wondered what caught the crowd's interest—other than the food, of course.

Currently, Honoka and Niko were waiting for the Guildmaster to call them. Honoka brought a medium sized wooden box while Niko brought a cute looking plastic box as they waited for their cooking to be judged—though they're not quite sure of how things will work out for them. After all, they're joining the guild to learn how to cook in the digital world, not to show off their cooking skills.

"Pathetic!" A male's loud voice is heard from the door of the guild. A middle aged man is thrown out onto the rough ground.

"If it is all you believe about cooking, then you are not worthy to learn the art of cooking!" the male voice shouted again.

As soon as they saw the owner of the male voice, their eyes opened wide. A digimon is running the guild—a tall digimon with a chef's hat and apron.

It was a black humanoid Digimon with long metal claws, armored dinosaur-like head and a pair of yellow eyes, short yellow hair and tough-looking body.

"B-Black War Greymon is the Guild Master?!" Niko smirked. It's lucky that her statement isn't heard by the angered Digimon, else it could've been a problem. Demi Devimon cowered behind his owner while Agumon appears to be somewhat relaxed just like Honoka.

"Who else wants to show me their cooking?" he asked with a voice filled with anger.

One by one, the candidates changed their mind and left the place for their own good. Niko was about to do it too but…

"I want to!" Honoka said fearlessly as she energetically waved at the angered Digimon.

Niko's face showed that she is screaming Honoka's name in her mind. Now she can only hope that this angered Digimon isn't going to maul them.

The angered Digimon approached her as Agumon staring at him calmly. The angered Digimon demanded the wooden food box that Honoka brought and she handed it as if she had full confidence over her work.

Black War Greymon opened her box and found a few small, round and white steamed buns, neatly shaped and still giving out its lovely scent. Black War Greymon blushed when he saw it.

Though he shook his head off as if trying to resist an urge then he ate those buns in the box in one go.

"This…" his voice is small.

"…is the best steamed bun I ever had…do you have more to present?" he continued.

"Ehehe, this is all I can make in two hours. Though, usually, I'd have to wait for several hours and knead it over and over to gain the extra fluffiness. But it seems that the cooking system here is much different than the one in the real world. It allows me to get the maximum fermentation result just in a few minutes!"

"No, I mean, do you have more of those now?" he asked again.

"Ah... that—hehe, I left them at home?" Honoka replied.

"UGRAAHHHH!" Black War Greymon shouted.

"W-whoa?!" Honoka and Agumon were surprised while Niko quickly distanced herself.

"I want more!" he said loudly.

"E-Ehhh…uhh….Well…I only brought some to fulfill requirements for joining chef guild?" Honoka replied.

"Then, you are accepted! Get your ass in the guild and start cooking for your next quest!"

"O-ok?" Honoka blinked, surprised at how quick the decision was made.

"Now!" Black War Greymon said loudly.

"Y-Yes, sir!" Honoka replied before she and Agumon ran in to the guild.

"O-Oi! Honoka! Don't leave me alone!" Niko said.

"You!" the Guild Master said.

"Y-Yes..!?" Niko replied nervously.

"I can smell it. You must be the one named Niko Yazawa, right?!" he said as he glared at Niko's plastic box.

"Yes?" Niko nodded with fear all over her face.

"GIVE ME MY CURRY!" He shouted loudly.

* * *

UTX High School—The Real World;

The school has turned into a headquarters, thanks to the headmaster for allowing such a thing to happen, and to A-Rise who persuaded him to do so. Small clinics for Digimon and people were built on the first and second floors, a shopping hall on the third floor, and houses the rest of the floors. The café were always busy, though A-Rise's discussion room was kept as the discussion room.

While A-rise took a break from their guard duty, a few others took their place.

"This is ridiculous…" Erena said as she tended to her Ryuudamon's armor, brushing it gently until it shone.

"What is…?" Anjuu asked as she prepared a seed porridge for her Lalamon.

"I've been trying to follow clues on where those Digimons came from but not a single portal is found… and those Digimon keep appearing anyway."Erena said.

"Hmm… certainly, Lalamon told me the same. She said that she witnessed a digimon appear from the ground though. It's like they are rising up from the ground…" Anjuu replied.

"Yeah, but not only that. I've also seen one appearing out of thin air. It's like someone programmed the real world to spawn them. Just like how one programs an area to spawn the wild Digimons over and over." Lalamon added.

"Hng… could it be that the real world has copied the Digital World's problem as well?" Ryuudamon asked.

"Now that you mention it, Ryuudamon… perhaps that is the exact case. Has the Digital world experienced copy pasted objects as well?" Erena asked.

"It has never been that much of a problem to us. We've been living with nature so whatever nature gives us is what we work with…" Ryuudamon said.

"Say, do your memories purely come from yourself or does the data that I collect tell you that?" Erena asked.

"We Digimon are born from one source of data So, whatever we are, we will already know from the start. Except, some Digimon decide to neglect those memories and build their own and some also decide to use such knowledge as their base to be evil or good." Lalamon explained.

"Hmm…just like what we know about how Vaccine, Data, Virus and Free-type work." Erena said before her thoughts drifted.

"Why did you even ask, though? I thought you knew that…" Anjuu said.

"I do … I was just trying to make sure because…perhaps… the way to solve the problem might have been there the whole time—with our Digimon." Erena said.

"But…If it is as simple as that, we would never have contacted human beings to help us…" Ryuudamon said.

"You're certainly right, Ryuudamon. But still…maybe there should be a way to salvage one memory and find out what exactly the problem is…" Erena said.

"Have you read the news, Erena-chan? We've got an update that this immortal creature is going to be shot with a very powerful canon. They will show it live on the Digi-channel in about an hour. We should get our digivice ready by then." Anjuu replied.

"But, didn't our digivice lose its ability to connect?" Erena asked.

"Well, didn't I tell you it's just a temporary shut down? My guess is that they're just limiting its connection to save the server memory. After the canon shot, it should return back to normal." Anjuu said.

"Really?!" Tsubasa who has been quiet the whole time finally spoke up. Her Black Agumon was sitting next to her, eating his meal and doing something with Tsubasa's Digivice.

"There, Tsubasa-chan… I know why you're excited. You wanted to contact your dear crush, right?" Anjuu said with her playful smile.

"Of course! I've been so worried!" Tsubasa said energetically.

"Say though, Tsubasa, do you think she is thinking about you now?" Erena asked.

"Of course she is! I'm sure she is thinking about me right now!" Tsubasa said.

"You're very confident. I mean, as I always say, she barely knows you…" Erena said.

"Now-now, Erena-chan, stop making sense. Let's just hope that's the truth…" Anjuu said.

"Yeah! What Anjuu said! Stop being a spoilsport!" Tsubasa added.

Erena sighed.

"Fine, whatever… but for real, Tsubasa, don't regret your decision." She said.

"I'm sure I won't! How many times I have told you that?" Tsubasa replied confidently.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Digital World;

Honoka finally got inside the guild and was being guided by a big red Dinosaur Digimon— a Tyranomon—as she sat on his shoulder along with her Agumon. She also learned about the many tools that she can use as a Digi-chef. The current tool is big—so big that she don't even know how she will be able to reach it But, apparently, the sample tools are just designed for the Tyranomon who was explaining to her and the tools that she will use will be designed just for her and be given later on.

His explanation is basically about how tools work and how each food will react to it. Honoka put all of her focus on listening to the explanation and she actually learned so fast. She understands the basics of each item but she was thinking of how she could use it for anything else other than its actual purpose. Some of the tools are also familiar to her since Niko helped her with it before and those items were the digi-fermentation machine, digi-knead machine, and the digi-oven.

While listening, she could also see a few people and Digimon working together in their own cooking rooms. She wondered if she will get the same thing but, alas, she would prefer to think about her own ingredients than places right now.

She looked over each person in their rooms and she just knows that they all have so many ingredients stocked inside. From the smell of cooking too, she judged that this place will be full of incredible chefs.

After the long explanation finally came to an end, Honoka wass set back down to the Guild's Lobby. Niko has been waiting there and she doesn't look good. Demi Devimon seems to be trying to soothe her, though she doesn't seem to feel his attention.

"Niko-senpai!" Honoka called her energetically. Agumon followed and he waved cheerfully at Demi Devimon.

"Oh…you're finally back, huh?" Niko said—her face was gloomy and her smile isn't happy either.

"Hehe, well, I got accepted and they will send my tools after a few days. Thanks for lending me your tools before! I would'nt have any idea how to make the food without it!" Honoka said.

"Huh? Well… if you don't have the tools, they will allow you to use the public cooking room…"

"E-eeehh!? So those are public cooking rooms?!" Honoka said.

"Yep, they may have been completed with ingredients, but they are expensive so, if you're not a rich merchant or good at making money, you will feel the dent in the economy." Niko replied.

"Wh-whoa…! I totally thought that we will get our own rooms when we join!" Honoka said.

"That's impossible! Besides, wouldn't it be more convenient to cook at home?" Niko replied.

"Eh…well, I wouldn't mind being somewhere else. I'd like to watch how people are doing it from time to time…" Honoka said.

"Huh? Well, tell you what. People who are cooking in guild are usually starters or the rich ones so you wouldn't learn anything from them. If you want to meet the professionals, you should go to the culinary festival each month. Aside from improving your knowledge, you can also raise your popularity." Niko said.

"Is that so? Then, hmm… when is this festival usually held?" Honoka asked.

"Every 18thof the month in the City of Memory middle Town's square. You probably missed this month's festival but you can try to go to the next month's festival." Niko said.

"Ooh, ok! Then I'll make sure to go to the next one!" Honoka replied.

"Weeelll, other than that, though… you can also watch me hailed by everyone—I'm like…the queen of cooking…" Niko said proudly.

"That's great!" Honoka replied.

"Yep-yep, and you wouldn't believe that I've been living off from my popularity as the cooking queen…" Niko said.

"Ooo…! Nice!" Honoka appreciated her again.

Suddenly, a somewhat loud static is heard in the lobby. Honoka, Niko, Agumon and Demi Devimon turn their attention to where the sound came from.

"Did you hear that, Niko-senpai?" Honoka asked as she stared curiously at the screen. It looked like a television that was specially set in the guild lobby to show cooking tutorials by digimon and humans.

"Y-yeah…." Niko replied.

For a while, they looked around and it seems that not many people heard the static sound—or they may have ignored it.

Agumon began to sniff while Demi Devimon began to feel agitated.

"Honoka-chan, I smell an enemy…" Agumon said.

"E-eh…?" Honoka wondered where that enemy might be.

The static sound is heard again and louder this time, followed by a glitch from the television.

"A-A glitch…?" Niko smirked.

"I wonder if the television is alright?" Honoka asked. Agumon doesn't look calm—he is set on his battle position and his eyes show his courage.

"Watch out, I still smell the enemy coming from there, Honoka-chan!" Agumon said.

Honoka, Niko and Demi Devimon were on alert, though they still have no idea what kind of enemy would come up to them.

Before they knew it, a large white tentacle appeared from the television and nearly grabbed both Niko and Honoka, but Demi Devimon was quick to pull his tamer away while Agumon and Honoka….

"W-whoaaaaa!" they shouted as both of them were dragged in to the television.

When they were almost fully sucked in, Niko and Demi Devimon quickly tried to pull them back out, but even with their combined strength, they both got sucked in along with Honoka and Agumon.

* * *

The Housing Area—Digital World;

A lot of people were gathered in the Housing Enthusiast Office hall. They have never been invited, though they are there to watch the huge screen set in the hall. Each of the players received a notification that they will be able to watch through any screen, including their digivices, but they preferred to watch on the big screen.

 _How can we know the details of the event if it is not through a big screen?_

One said.

 _We want to know the form of the immortal creature._

The other said.

While the crowd surrounded the screen, Lucemon and a few other official members, including Lucemon's partner, are forced to manage them. They would have said that the show will contain violence but, alas, they can't really be sure since the creature's true identity is still unknown.

As soon as the show is officially announced to begin, the screen showed a giant white squid-like creature from a bird's eye-view and another creature that looked like a metal skeleton with metallic muscles wearing broken white armors stood on top of it.

Then, what suddenly become the center of attention in the screen are the two people who totally look human in the screen.

"Are those two… humans?" said one of the Digimon—a plant-like Digimon with a pink flower on its head that may have been owned by one of the audience members.

"Wh-Who are they?! Isn't that the place that will be nuked?!" said one of the audience.

"Stop the nuking! Two people are there!" said another.

They began to panic and the officials began to attempt contacting those who are working in the Bridge Domain.

Meanwhile, The Bridge Domain;

"How long until the canon is ready?" Lord Knightmon asked.

"All going according to plan, mam." An official said.

"So that should be in thirty minutes?" Lord Knightmon asked to confirm.

"Yes, mam. Thirty four minutes to be exact." The official replied.

"W-wait there! Are those humans?!" Omegamon said when he look at the screen.

"Those are humans!" Dukemon confirmed.

"Stop the canon!" said another Digimon—a Digimon equipped with a black armor with gold lines and a white robe.

"I'm sorry Alphamon, but we can't stop the canon right now. If we do so, the canon will explode and we will have to do this all over again. Plus, we just received a report that the Eater we sent has begun its attempt to travel into another dimension, we need to nuke them." Craniumon said.

"We need to find another way!" A blue Digimon with V carved on its chest plate said.

"Let's get them…" A centaur-like Digimon said.

Omegamon, Dukemon, and Alphamon turned to them.

"Please do that. We still have thirty minutes so it should be enough to get them and create distance before the nuke happens." Alphamon said.

"Don't be ridiculous, do you think the Eaters will sit prettily there?" Lord Knightmon said.

"I'll come With Ulforce Veedramon and Sleipmon, I'll make sure to defend them." Dukemon said.

"Just hurry up, we don't have time to argue. Move first, think later." The centaur-like Digimon said.

"You're right, Sleipmon, we better hurry." Ulforce Veedramon replied before Dukemon jumped into Sleipmon's back and the three ran as fast as they can.

Lord Knightmon scowled and she shook her head before she announced,

"Slow down the process! We need to buy them as much time as possible!"

The deeper depth of the Bridge Domain;

Honoka and Niko have no idea how to get out of this place. The only things they could see are the huge, white, squid-like monster along with the smaller one which they can't identify since their Digivice stopped working, somehow. Their Digimon are still trying to protect them from the said monster which seemed to be in a strange state of alert.

It was lucky that when they got dragged into the doomed place, Agumon was biting on its tentacle, which prevented it from functioning so Honoka is not harmed. Right now, with the number of squid-like Digimon everywhere sticking themselves into the invisible walls— and some even attempted to get themselves through broken cameras— Honoka and Niko tried to stay as calm as possible and not make a single movement or sound which may attract these creature. When Honoka and Niko finally decided to look behind them, they saw a broken camera under a big squid-like monster which was sticking on the nearby wall. Could it be the monster that went into the camera before and pulled them in?

Putting all that aside, now there is another danger threatening them. The Metallic Skeleton's eyes met theirs, and it looked so creepy as it walked towards them. The sound of its strong feet made their hearts beat faster and its diabolical look made them feel like cowering in fear.

Whenever it passed through a squid-like monster, it absorbed the monster into its body and even the biggest ones have started to shatter into data and were absorbed into this creature.

As it got closer to the two digimon and humans, this creature crossed its arms and stood in front of them.

"Stuck in the chaos?" a female-like voice came from the metallic skeletal creature.

Honoka could see the texture of its body. It resembles a female human with mechanic icy blue eyes and feminine muscular features. Its face has a set of white teeth that resemble actual human teeth and some parts had some dark red stains. Some parts of her body were covered with broken white armor and a remnants of a black rubber suit. Niko couldn't pay attention that much since it's scary enough for her to be stuck with those disgusting squid-like monsters and staying there as quiet as possible is the only thing she wanted to do right now.

"Yes, can you help us?" Honoka asked innocently.

Agumon stood in front of her and remained silent, ready to fight if necessary.

The creature remained silent before it offered its hand to Honoka. At that time, Honoka thought that this creature might not have been a threat to them. The creature's hand is covered with a strange, futuristic looking glove with a Sapphire attached to it.

"Hhrrnngh!" Agumon stand in front of Honoka, blocking the creature from touching her.

The creature walked back then faced another way.

Honoka was flustered but she couldn't say much until the creature decided to jump away from them—far away from them. A few minutes of silence and the squid-like monsters didn't make any movement at all. Honoka and Niko still remained alert while Agumon and Demi Devimon kept looking around to make sure that no one can sneak attack them.

Their senses might've been up at the maximum but none of them expect some Digimon to snatch them from the ground and fly them far away from the chaotic place full of squid-like monsters.

Honoka and Niko now realized that they're being carried by two unfamiliar creatures and seeing them made Honoka slightly panicked but luckily…

"Wh-whoa? Dukemon? Sleipmon? Ulforce Veedramon?" Niko said.

"You recognize our name, that's good…" Ulforce Veedramon said.

"Of course, aren't you guys the Royal Knights?" Niko said.

"Aye! The real one, not the copies!" Dukemon said.

"Put that detail aside, my friend, what brought you two in?" Sleipmon asked.

"Uh, we got dragged in by tentacles…through the television…" Honoka said.

"Television…? Where…?" Dukemon asked.

"The Cooking Guild…" Honoka replied.

"Cooking guild?" Dukemon replied.

"Ah, right, that place, the lobby is pretty cramped so it's no wonder that weren't able to dodge the tentacles like how a few other people did." Ulforce Veedramon said.

"From what I remember, it's not quite a cramped place. It is normal sized, I say." Dukemon said.

"They are just in luck." Sleipmon said.

"No kidding, but now that you all are safe with us, would you like to witness the great explosion?" Dukemon asked. Honoka, Niko, Agumon and Demi Devimon nodded.

They turned around and looked at the nightmarish view of Eaters piling up in one area. A few second passed and the sound of a canon being shot, followed by an explosion, is heard from a distance. The bright light could've blinded Honoka and Niko but, thank goodness, they wore their Digivice on their heads and it automatically covered their eyes with a goggle as it detected the amount of lights shining from the distance.

The explosion is huge and it looked so powerful. The three Royal Knights stopped and, when a smaller round was shot, each of them shot their own powerful blasts. It seemed that they agreed to sync their attack to match the canon's potential.

"Now, we can only hope for the best…" Sleipmon said.

Dukemon and Ulforce Veedramon nodded in agreement before they returned to their camp.

* * *

The Housing Enthusiast Office;

The audience seemed to be relieved when the news said the royal knights rescued the humans before they shot their powerful beam to the ridiculously powerful creature. They never saw what exactly happened since all their focuses were taken by eaters scattered on the screen.

When the timer was almost up, the audience began to see the light beam approaching the screen. The beam flared up on the screen and hindered the view and, finally, the beam reached its target. It was all white and no one can see a thing or hear an explosion.

"Is it muted?" one of the audience asked.

The official tried to check but the volume seemed fine.

A few minutes passed and the view cleared up. Eaters were still piled up and none of them are harmed—at least not before they saw the creature slash the eaters into pieces with an invisible blade before all of them were absorbed by the creature which now began to grow a few more parts of its body.

Four pairs of wings on its back, human-like skin seemed to cover its metallic muscles and bones and some parts of its armor returned were pieced together.

The audience was dumbfounded as they wondered what may have been happened when the screen went bright. Their curiosity is sated when the creature finally flew to the camera and spoke.

"That was nice, thank you for all the light you gave me…" it said with its female-like voice.

"W-what?! It absorbed the beam?!" one of the audience said.

"R-Ridiculous!" the other replied.

"Let me tell you something about me…" the creature said.

"I shall never die as long as the light still shines upon the world… and my mission is to regain my power—all of those who sit on the throne shall be aware of me because I shall not spare them. Not at all…" it continued.

"W-what the heck?! Is that a threat?!" said one of the audience again.

"Or… actually... never mind… the faster it is, the better, right? One of the worlds shall sacrifice for my power …" it continued.

The audience roared.

"Go! Go pick your favorite world and enjoy the last of your time…" the creature laughed evilly before it broke the camera and cut off the connection between them.

* * *

The City of Memory's Lobby—Digital World;

Honoka, Niko, Agumon and Demi Devimon received a gift from the official as an apology for what happened to them. They were also given with extra voucher which can be traded for some Digi-Food.

"Aahh—this is nice. Maybe I'm not that bad with luck after all!" Niko said as she received the notification about the gift.

"Hehe, who would have expected things to turn out like this?" Honoka said.

"Right, huh? At least Chibby will have more food for the rest of the month." Niko said.

"Chibby?" Honoka wondered.

"That's my nickname. Cute isn't it?" Demi Devimon said.

"Nickname…?" Honoka and Agumon wondered.

"Heheheh—every good tamer will give their beloved Digimon a nickname, but we have to make sure that they like it." Niko said proudly.

"Well—I should say that my nickname should've been something scary, but I guess I started to embrace myself as the cute little devil." Demi Devimon said.

"Hnng…Just like Angel and Lady?" Honoka asked again.

"Yep, just like those two!" Chibby replied.

"Whoaa…. Now I feel like I should give Agumon a nickname!" Honoka said.

"Uweh…. What kind of nickname are you going to give me?" Agumon asked.

"Hmm….what about… Dino?"

"Dino….? That sounds lame!" Agumon replied.

"G-gah! You're pretty blunt!" Honoka said.

"Can you think of a better name?" Agumon asked.

"Hng…what about… T-Rex?" Honoka suggested again.

"Meh—but if I'm evolving into Tyrannomon, then I'll take that."

"Ggh…I don't even know what you will turn into." Honoka began to think again.

"Huh? Don't tell me, you haven't joined any rookie tournaments?!" Niko asked.

"Uhm…No? I promised with Umi-chan that we will take it together. She said her Penguinmon isn't ready yet, so… I have no choice but to wait, right?" Honoka replied.

"That's stupid. But, alright… not really. Those three juniors told me that they have taken them together. Rookie tournaments are not that uncommon anyway. But you can't do something like that for the other tournaments, unless you want to fight your own friend." Niko said.

"Uh…ok? Honoka replied.

"S-ranked match, especially! You may be able to register, but the elimination round is always hell and no one will want to play poorly, you know. They will be serious and it will be hard to get up to the real match!" Niko said.

"So, you are saying that…I shouldn't wait for anyone next time?"

"Of course you shouldn't! Just practice and get your own ass there! I swear if you do that and Eli finds out, she will kick your ass!"

"E-eeeH!? D-Don't kick me!" Honoka said.

"Yep, if you don't want that, you better really have the urge to work it out. Heck, is there any reason why you're playing this game?"

"Uh…why huh? Well…it started out when someone registered me for this game… then, uh...it looks fun so I play it?" Honoka replied.

"Huuh? What the hell? Don't you have any other reason?" Niko asked.

"No…?"

"Ridiculous! How could you not! You should at least aim for something, you know…!"

"Uhhmm…to be…an S-Ranked player?" Honoka doubtfully answered.

"Too Naïve! That kind of ambition will not motivate you! If you don't trust me, just duel Eli's Renamon. I bet you won't even lay a hand on her and all of your hope will scatter!" Niko said.

"E-eeh? Then…uh….uhm…. Mega-Ranked player?" Honoka replied again.

"No way! You will get that easily. Try to aim for something much higher but still realistic…"

"Uuhh… A master chef…?"

"What? Why are you even playing Digimon online if all you want to be is a master chef!"

"Uhhh… then…what should I do…?" Honoka asked with an innocent expression.

"Hmmph! I guess it can't be helped, huh? But let me tell you what you SHOULD do!" Niko said with pride in her voice.

Honoka remained silent to listen to what her senior has to say to her.

"You see, Digimon online is a worldwide online game and, if you're popular in it, you might as well be popular in the whole world. So the best use of playing Digimon online is to gain fame! Just like what A-Rise says, be the idols and be popular!"

"Ooohhh!" Honoka responded.

"So, in other words! The most realistic dream is to become famous!" Niko continued.

"Uuuohhhh!" Honoka responded to her again.

"Uhhnn…what's the use of being famous again?" Agumon asked.

"W-what? You didn't know?! Just imagine if everyone knows you and they all adore you!" Chibby the Demi Devimon said.

"Now-now, I knew you will ask that, and I surely have the answer. By being popular, people will give you anything you hope for! Free food in every restaurant, Discount in every shop and, most importantly, anywhere you go, their eyes will be on to you! Then… a soulmate? Check that one… you can get anyone you want! Dresses, training, just anything!"

"Uhh…but… I have Umi-chan and Kotori-chan…" Honoka replied.

"Naaah—they won't stand a chance! You can have a millionaire best friend or a famous celebrity!"

"Uh…Like, Maki-chan and Tsubasa-chan?"

"G-Gh…uh…a luck hoarder or a great tamer!"

"Like Nozomi-Senpai and Eli-senpai?"

"Hmm…well you still need the free food or the friend that will always cheer you up!" Niko said.

"Hehe, I feel like Hanayo-chan and Rin-chan has that part covered!"

"Bah! Fine! Then, what about a chef? Huh? Or just a jester!"

"Hehe, Niko-senpai, you look like you fit both roles!" Honoka replied cheerfully.

"G-Gaaah! You are impossible! Too simple minded!" Niko complained.

"Hehe, but, I get what you mean. Maybe I should really go after the idol thing after all! Since…you know, Tsubasa-chan suggested it and everyone told me that it's the best way to gain fame!" Honoka said.

"Yes, I'm glad you got it…" Niko sighed.

Then, suddenly, her digivice started ringing.

"Wh-Whoa! That's surprising!" The ginger girl said loudly.

"Huh? A call eh?" Niko said.

Honoka accepted the call.

"Aaah! Tsubasa-chan! I've been wondering why you didn't respond to my text!" Honoka said.

"G-gh…this girl…" the black haired girl smirked with envy written all over her face.

"Oh? The connection between worlds was cut off? I didn't know!" Honoka replied.

Niko wondered what their topic was… she wished that she is in their conversation somehow.

"Hehe—we certainly did! But we were saved by the Royal Knights!" Honoka said cheerfully.

The little girl couldn't really hear them but the sound of excitement seems to color their conversation.

"I know right! Hehe! They also told me that they're sorry for what happened!" The ginger girl replied.

Niko could hear that the girl on the phone speaks something for a while.

"Uhhnn….well… so far….we have a medium sized house—it took a while for us all to be able to fill it with what we need. Some of us had complete needs but not all. The best thing is that we don't need to think too much for our daily needs! Hanayo-chan supplies our food, Rin-chan and Kotori-chan always brought back snacks whenever they visit the city, Umi-chan lets our Digimon join the practices she holds everyday, Maki-chan and Nozomi-senpai are always ready to heal when we need it and Eli-senpai…uh…she is the one who manages the household…" Honoka explained.

The black haired girl touched Honoka's shoulder, expecting to be mentioned in their conversation.

"Haha! I cooked my food by myself. The others are doing the same too!" Honoka continued.

Niko smirked but felt totally defeated and felt like she has been forgotten.

"Hnn…? What? uh… I think we are fine! You can stay there and take care of our world! I'll be joining there once I can leave. I heard from Eli-senpai that we can go there once we are S-Rank! Though, actually, I would prefer to be able to log out normally!" Honoka replied again.

Niko still trying to get Honoka's attention but the ginger seems to not care about her.

"Hehehe! For sure! Eli-senpai is like the daddy! She knows so many things and she also takes care almost everything in the house! Though, she is a bit scary sometimes! Just about a week ago, she scolded me because I took her shampoo and soap!" Honoka continued to talk with Tsubasa on the phone.

"Eh? You think that anyone will be pissed off? Hehe, I was just borrowing them, though, and I just forgot to return it!" Honoka said again—still ignoring Niko who's now pointing to herself.

"W-whaaat? Potential criminal? T-there! Tsubasa-chan! You're a bit blunt sometime! But really! I just forgot to return it! I also forgot to ask for permission but I was already naked when I remembered that I didn't bring any shampoo and soap. Her room is the closest since she was staying in the guestroom." Honoka said.

Niko sighed and she began to pout.

"Hehe, well, I don't really know why, but, I think I heard from someone that she said, she needs to try the guest room and see if it is comfortable enough to stay in with the arrangements she made!"

The little black haired girl rolled her eyes and she decided to wait while crossing her arms.

"I know right! Hehe! The only person who can make her do something else than her responsibilities is Nozomi-senpai! She is like the mommy! She also protects us from Eli-senpai's wrath! The last time she was really angry at us was when we decided to mess around instead of working on our own rooms! Nozomi-senpai dragged her away and I don't know what happened next but Eli-senpai is suddenly very calm and friendly when she returned!"

The conversation went on and Agumon seem to be have already fallen asleep from waiting while Demi Devimon is trying his best to stay awake to keep Niko company.

* * *

In their home—The Dining Room.

The room is styled with a modern design and a decent-sized television was set near the dining table. Umi, Kotori, Maki, Rin, Hanayo, Nozomi and Eli are sitting with their digivice placed on the table. Their Digimon were switched on training mode with each other.

The girls have been worried sick about Honoka and Niko. They sent them texts and calls yet none were going through so they decided to drop their attempts and try again later.

"Honoka… how could you be there…" Umi said very sadly.

"Now-now, Umi-chan, don't be like a daddy losing his daughter. Didn't you hear that the Royal Knights saved them?" Nozomi said.

"I did hear that but…why did she not reply to my texts or my calls? Why she didn't call me back? Is she ok?" Umi asked.

"Umi-chan…. Why don't we just go to the lobby?" Kotori suggested. She seems to be very concerned as well.

"Heh—I think we should just stick in this place and wait her to return. It's no use for us to look in the lobby." Maki said.

"Yeah-nya. When I was patrolling before, it seems that the crowd has started another argument… I don't think the streets will be a good place to hang out." Rin said.

"Uhmm… if we think about it a little, why did this creature attempt to start a war?" Hanayo asked.

"Clearly, because she need the power. Using her logic, she needed to destroy one world to regain her power. I don't know her maximum limit but, seeing how she blocked the beam, she might actually need one powerful world. If war is started, everyone in the world will see a reason to raise their power. Once the world achieves the amount of power she needs, she will devour it…" Eli said.

"T-that means… she was tricking them to create more power for their favorite world?" Kotori asked.

"Exactly. Though, what I'm curious about is… The Digital world obviously has an almost unlimited power. At least that's what I think since the concept of Digital World is a universe of data created with unique inhabitants. This creature realized the existence of this world so why did this creature decide to start a war if all she wanted is to devour one world? She can have what she needs right now if she wants. There must be something else that this creature is thinking about…" Eli continued.

"W-whah! T-That's pretty scary! I mean, to think that we all live in the Digital World right now…" Hanayo said.

"Hmm…come to think of it Ericchi… the creature said that she wanted to devour one world, though she started a war and this will lead to stronger inhabitants, either human beings or the digimon—then, if we connect it to how S-Ranked players will be able to go back into the real world..." Nozomi's voice drifted away.

"Stronger inhabitants in the real world..." Eli said.

"That means, this creature is trying to enhance the quality of inhabitants in the real world…" Maki said.

"And as a creature like that, I believe she will be capable of devouring both worlds then, perhaps, creating a new world as well?" Eli said.

"S-Scary-nyaaa!" Rin said loudly.

"Hey, anyhow, since when we called this creature as a 'she'…?" Maki asked.

"That creature's voice sounded female so we assume this creature is a female…" Nozomi said.

"Huh? Alright I guess… but, with that shape… it's pretty creepy. It's like I can see through her body…" Maki said.

"Did you want to hear about this creature's history?" Nozomi asked.

"W-what? Not really..." Maki replied.

"From the beginning, they said that this creature was found in an invisible object form. Then eventually it took form from the junk data and the Digimon that attacked her—so basically, her body right now are parts of other Digimon and data…scary right?"

"I… I said I didn't want to hear it…" Maki smirked.

"Can you just imagine a woman that made of Digimon and Data? A creature created by its combined power? It will be like an absolute destroyer—Oh! We should name her the Absolute Destroyer. Sounds good?" Nozomi continued again.

"A-Absolute Destroyer!?" Kotori, Hanayo, and Rin showed fear in their faces.

"Yep, I should spread that name everywhere. The AD… a good name huh?" Nozomi confirmed.

"Th-that sounds so close to Attack Damage…" Maki said.

"Ahh, I see you been remember a video game term. AP for Ability Power and AD for Attack Damage. But now-now, since you have pointed it out, maybe I should pick a different name. What about… Abomination?" Nozomi said.

"Y-you're saying it like you will be the trendsetter." Maki replied again with her eyes averted.

"I am! In fact, I can speak of your name and advertise anything for you and people will flock to you in instant. I have been the most trusted merchant in the entire Digital World, you know." the purplenette grinned.

"W-what…? Impossible. I have never heard of a single person capable of doing that." Maki smirked.

"Well, since you don't believe me. What about an advertisement about you looking for some kids to play with?"

"W-what?! Why would I play with kids?" Maki smirked wider at her.

"It's just going to be for a day, trust me…"

"N-No! Can you just advertise my music or something like that?" Maki said,

"Your music? Hmm…alright, expect to receive a lot of calls later…and don't make me regret it." Nozomi replied.

"W-waaait-wait-wait-nyaa!" Rin suddenly joined the conversation.

"E-eh? What's wrong, Rin-chan?"

"I think-nya, you shouldn't advertise her music without us-nya! Didn't we all want to make an idol group-nya?" Rin said.

"For real…?" Nozomi asked.

"R-Rin-chan! I told you it was just Honoka's plan!" Hanayo said.

"Yep! Kayo-chin want to do it too, right-nya?" Rin said.

"Heh, was that really a serious plan though?" Maki asked as her eyes set on the timid girl.

"U-uuh…I… I don't know!" Hanayo blushes madly.

The girls went quite for a moment, wishing that someone would speak up to confirm it. The dining room is awfully quiet until Umi 's digivice received a phone call...

"Ah! Honoka!" Umi said. The girls hyped up, except for Eli who seemed unamused.

"Hmm… what? Where are you?" the bluenette asked.

"Lobby? With Niko-senpai? Thank goodness, we've been so worried when we saw you on the live stream. How did you even get there? I thought you went to the cooking guild!" she continued.

Honoka's loud voice could be heard even without the loud speaker, though, none of them but Umi is able to hear it clearly.

"I'll listen to you later then but, can you get back home or do you want us to pick you up?" the blunette asked.

Kotori, Hanayo, and Rin curiously try to grasp the idea of how the conversation was going.

"W-what?! A riot in the city?! W-what caused it?" Umi exclaimed.

While she listened to what Honoka was saying to her, Hanayo seemed to be down.

"So the war has really started…" she said sadly.

"I-it's ok, Kayo-chan, we will be fine!" Kotori tried to cheer her up.

"Who would've expected this to be so serious?" Maki said with a sigh at the end of her remark.

"We have no choice but to pump our Digimon harder in their training. Also, we might not be able to go out of this home without our Digimon anymore…" Eli said.

"I swear it was alright before-nya…" Rin said sadly.

"Say, Ericchi, do you think they will mess with our home somehow?" Nozomi asked.

"Each land is equipped with security system which no one else other than the residents of the estate, special officials, and allowed guest will be allowed entry. People will only be able to see our outdoor activity but they will never be able to enter without permission." Eli replied.

"Just works like a gate, huh? Then I suppose homes will be the safest place for anything these days…" Maki said.

"But what about those poor people who live in the lodging house? Wouldn't that mean that they will be in danger of getting attacked?" Hanayo asked.

"Most of the people who live in the Lodging house are people without Digimon—and they can't be attacked by any Digimon, thanks to the security program. Also, they're protected by the official so we don't need to worry about them." Eli replied.

"Everyone! We need to go to the lobby together!" Umi suddenly said after she finished her call with Honoka.

"Wait, why do we need to? There's a teleporter in the lobby, tell her to use it." Eli said.

"The teleporter in the lobby is malfunctioning. It teleports you to a random place instead of your actual destination so they closed it for maintenance." Umi explained.

"Then use the one near the marketplace." Eli said.

"Honoka and Niko said they went there but a group of people have claimed it." Umi replied.

"How about the rest of teleporters in the city?" Eli asked again.

"They can't go anywhere else at the moment. As I said, a riot began in the city. Many people are fighting each other right now." Umi replied.

"And where's the wisdom in going to the city just to look for them? They have to somehow stay low and sneak to any possible teleporter. It's better than charging in to a place with a lot of battles happening." Eli said.

The girls seems to be putting their thoughts into it.

"If you truly want to save her, then let's do it in a smart way." Eli continued again.

Umi nods.

"Do you have any plan then?" Umi asked.

"Of course I do. It's pretty easy to sneak through the city, especially when everyone around might be busy with their own battles." Eli replied.

Nozomi giggled to Eli's response.

"I can't deny that it was easy for us, though, we may need a little more work with Honoka, don't you think?" she said.

"E-eh? Did anything that happen before that caused you two to sneak through the city…?" Kotori asked.

"Long story but let's focus on the task at hand, shall we?" Nozomi replied.

"Yes, but first of all, I need some of you to wait in our residence's teleporter. I set that up near the gym." Eli said.

"Eeh? We have a teleporter?" Umi asked.

"We just bought that today." Maki replied.

"And it took a while for me to set it up properly since they didn't give me any leads…" Eli said.

"I see, so…I what exactly can we do?" Umi asked.

"As what I've said, just stand guard around the teleporter. We will add to the plan later. Someone should also have at least a little knowledge about programming." Eli replied.

"Then, Kayo-chin should be able to do the job-nya!" Rin said.

"E-eeeh?! M-Mee…?" Hanayo said loudly.

"Can you?" Eli asked to her.

The girls went quiet for a while as they stared at the timid girl. They didn't need any words to convey how they all wished for her cooperation.

"F-Fine… I'll do it! P-Please wish me luck!" Hanayo said.

"You'll be fine-nya!" Rin said cheerfully.

* * *

The City of Memory—Near the lobby;

Honoka and Niko stood near the lobby as they waited for the right chance to jump out. The crowd seemed to be angered and some have started a Digimon battle. The officials are overwhelmed by the number of fighting players and now they're falling back to their office to draw up a plan.

While Honoka and Niko waited, the two tried to find other things to occupy themselves with. Niko spent her time looking around the city through the Binoculars placed in the lobby's garden for a tourism. As for Honoka…

 _ **From : Kira Tsubasa**_

 _Honoka! How is it? Did you get to contact your friend to help you?_

 _ **To : Kira Tsubasa**_

 _I did! Umi-chan said she wanted to pick me up!_

 _ **From : Kira Tsubasa**_

 _That's not quite the right decision but Umi is like Erena, right? Then I bet she said that out of worry for you! Hahaha…!_

 _ **To : Kira Tsubasa**_

 _Eeehh? Then she isn't supposed to pick me up?"_

 _ **From : Kira Tsubasa**_

 _There should be a better choice, but I'm not quite sure. I'm pretty good at programming and hacking, but I can't possibly do that since I'm too far away from you. If only we're at least in the same world…_

 _ **To : Kira Tsubasa**_

 _Hehe, it's alright! I'm very sure that my luck will give me something good today!_

Then right after Honoka sent that text, Umi called her—which she quickly accepted.

"Honoka! Are you still near the lobby?" she asked.

"Yep!" Honoka replied.

"Good! Eli-senpai is going to give you a call so you better obey her, ok? This is for your own sake! Also, make sure Niko goes with you! We wouldn't want anyone to be left alone!" Umi said.

"Ok!" Honoka replied cheerfully.

The call ended right before a new call came to her digivice.

"Honoka…" A gentle voice. It sounded like the voice that could make anyone's heart melt, except Honoka doesn't take any interest to that.

"Ahh…Uh… Who is this again?" Honoka asked.

"Eli…." The voice replied.

"W-whoa! So-Sorry! Eli-senpai! I have never heard you on the phone before! You sound… different!" Honoka replied.

"I thought Umi informed you about who will call you. Anyway, let's just get down to the business, shall we?" Eli replied.

"Ok!" Honoka replied—a little too stiffly.

"First of all, can you give me your coordinates?" Eli asked.

"Uh… what's a… coordinate?" Honoka asked back.

She couldn't hear anyone speaking after that but she heard Eli's sigh. The two remained silent for a moment as Honoka waited for an answer and Eli tried to figure out how to explain to the clueless girl.

"What's wrong, Ericchi?" Nozomi's voice is heard from the phone, but she seemed a little far from the microphone.

"She doesn't know what a coordinate is… put aside understanding what I say in the future." Eli replied.

"Oohh… that's a problem now, huh? Well… I have an idea here…" Nozomi said.

"Talk to her…" Eli said.

"Alright, come a little closer darling, let me speak through your digivice's microphone."

It took a few seconds for Honoka to wait for the next command but at least, Nozomi's voice somewhat soothed her worry about not being treated gently.

"Hello, Honoka-chan, since you don't know what a coordinate is and we do not want you to make even the slightest mistake…"

Honoka swears, her heart jumped slightly as she heard the last point of Nozomi's sentence. Not making the _slightest mistake_ isn't her thing.

"…we want you to get Nikocchi to invite us all into her club, for real now. No more slacking." Nozomi said.

"U-Uh… ok?" Honoka replied.

Lucky for her, Niko was just about to approach her and she only needs to beckon her in order to get beside her.

"What's up?" Niko asked.

"Uh… Niko-senpai, can you… invite us all to your club?"

"Huh? What? But I haven't post the new form!" Niko replied.

"That's why I said 'Invite us to the club for real,' no more slacking!'" Nozomi said a little loudly.

"W-whoa…Uh…. N-Niko-senpai, she said, that's why she told you to not slack on it!" Honoka said.

"W-What?! A-Alright, I'll go to the lobby to post it!" Niko replied before she quickly operated her own digivice and printed a digital paper from her screen. She ran up to the lobby quickly while Honoka watched from a distance.

After about fifteen minutes, Niko finally returned from the lobby and ran up to the ginger girl. Next, she quickly operate her digivice's screen again before a notification for invitation came up on Honoka's digivice.

 _Would you like to join µ_ _'s— The School Idol Research Club?_

It said.

Honoka immediately accepted the invitation.

"Ok! I did it now!" she said.

"Good job, Honoka-chan!" Nozomi said through the microphone.

"I can see your position in the map now…" Eli said— and her voice is just as clear. It's like both Nozomi and Eli are really close to one microphone.

"So, what should we do next?" Honoka asked.

"Hmm….Ericchi, don't you think that position is familiar…?"

"Yes, I'm very sure that place is where we had that…." Eli replied.

"I wonder if it is still left around there?" Nozomi said.

"Should be." Eli replied.

"Alright then, Honoka-chan, Niko-chan, you two should move to the garden right behind you."

"Uh…ok?" Honoka turned around, seeing nothing more than a garden full of strange looking flowers and trees. Niko wondered what might be interesting behind them.

"Hey, put it in loud speaker, I can't hear…" the black-haired girl said. Honoka nodded and placed the call on loud speaker.

"No-No, Nikocchi, you're surely a curious girl but let us talk with Honoka-chan only." Nozomi said.

"Huh? Alright, but how am I supposed to know the things I should do?" Niko asked.

"Just listen to Honoka, you'll be fine." Eli said.

"Meh—fine…" Niko replied before the loudspeaker was turned off.

"Alright now, Honoka-chan, try to look for a bush with light blue and purple color… and yes, the branches should be the same color too." Nozomi said.

"Eh…uh…well…there are so many here that are colored with light blue and purple… even the official flag is in those colors. It might take some time to look for them…" Honoka replied.

"You shouldn't step on the grass. Just follow the path and you will figure it out easily…" Eli said.

"Uh…ok? Uhm…where should we start?" Honoka asked again.

"If you step on the grass, the official gardener will chase you down so it's better if you start from where the entrance is. It should be just a few meters away from you. Try to look to your left…"

Honoka looked to her left And saw that a few people are standing close to where she believes the entrance to the garden is.

"T-There are a few people there…" Honoka said.

"Just sneak in and hope they don't see you." Nozomi said.

"Actually, no, we can't risk making contact with anyone right now. Let's try to find another way…" Eli said.

"Hmm… there's no other way, the other entrance should be somewhere near the marketplace, right? Many said that the riot is mainly happening there…" Nozomi replied.

"Do you remember, Nozomi? The official gardener always steps on the grass and the alarm doesn't sound off when they do…"

"Ah—you mean, Digimon should be able to step on them?" Nozomi clarified.

"Probably. I've never tried but if my memory serves me right, all the gardeners are Digimon and they don't seem to mind when Renamon and your Salamons steps on the grass…"

"You're right… After all, what caused us to stumble into that problem is because we thought it is fine to step on the grass…."

"W-wait there, Senpai! Is it really that bad to step on the grass?" Honoka confirmed.

"Yep, extremely so…." Nozomi replied.

"O…Ok….." Honoka smirked.

"Now, put that aside. Tell Agumon to jump over the short fence and carry you until you reach a nearby path… as for Nikocchi, she should be able to make Chibby carry her." Nozomi said.

"Uh…ok, Niko-senpai, she said Chibby should be able to carry you to prevent you from stepping on the grass…" Honoka said to the black haired girl.

"Huh, sure… we can do that easy. But what are we going to do again?" Niko asked.

"To get to a bush with light blue and purple color…" Honoka said.

"That's it? I know where they are…maybe… I've gone to the garden a few times now…" Niko said.

"Really? Then that should save us the trouble of searching for it!" Honoka said.

"Sheesh, why can't I listen to your conversation anyway when I've proven that I know a lot about this city…" Niko said.

"The problem is that she always make her own plan even if I tell her how we need her to work." Eli said.

"Yep, you don't need to tell her what Ericchi said, but just keep that in mind—If Nikocchi tries to make you work not according to the plan, just brush her off and obey us." Nozomi said.

"A-Alright…." Honoka replied.

* * *

Meanwhile, at home;

Umi, Kotori, Rin, Hanayo, and Maki are waiting near the teleporter shaped like a crystal with light blue and purple gradation. The crystal is very small and anyone can miss it if they're not sharp enough to notice. The crystal is placed on a bush with strange light blue and purple flowers, leaves and branches.

"Hnn… this teleporter is very hidden…I wonder why they have to do this…?" Hanayo asked.

"I'm not sure either but, perhaps, they wanted it to be exclusively used by us?" Maki said.

"Hehe, I'm sure we don't need to do that. I mean, even if we have our own teleporter, we still need to enter the address and password to enter one private place like this estate." Kotori said.

"Maybe it has a specific durability? I wouldn't want a stranger to break it." Umi said.

"Eh… but, who else can go into this place but us? Unless you're talking about a guest who might try to use it…" Maki said.

"Ehehe… maybe… but…that reminds me, Honoka-chan broke my shower before…" Kotori said.

"Your shower?" the girls wondered.

"Yep, she was new to my home that time. I think she have never seen some objects in my house and… well, that time, we had a stay over. She took a bath with and Umi-chan too!" Kotori said.

"I totally remember that day, Kotori. She was running around with shower in her hand and accidentally detached the whole pipe off the wall." Umi said.

"W-wow…. Just how powerful is she…" Maki said.

"Hehe, we also had no idea that she can do that. It was fine for a few minutes…" Kotori said.

"Did your parents get mad at her?" Maki asked.

"Uh… no, my mother said that it's alright. Honoka also felt bad that time and she already apologized a lot of times!"

"Hehe, at least she is willing to admit-nya!" Rin said.

"Yep! Hehe, Honoka-chan, even though she can be very mischievous and unstoppable, she is always willing to take responsibility to fix what was wrong." Kotori said.

Yes, and the next day, I remember that she brought a lot of manjuu from her shop to make up and also some cash to pay for repair fees…" Umi said.

"Yep-Yep! Hehe…" Kotori nodded.

They are about to continue their conversation but Penguinmon appeared from the gym's door and approach Umi.

"Umi! We're done with today's practice!" he said as he saluted at her.

"Good job, Penguinmon!" Umi commended.

Then, just a few second after, the rest of Digimon— Renamon, Lunamon, Double Salamon, Lalamon, and Gaomon walked out of the gym and fell from exhaustion.

"Merciless… he is merciless!" Lalamon said.

"This is a good practice… I admit…" Renamon said.

"It was not!" One of the Salamon said.

"I can't… even heal myself anymore!" the other Salamon said.

"I've never been so worked out…" Gaomon said.

"Oh—come on, everyone! This is still nothing!" Penguinmon said.

"Now-now, Penguinmon. Why you didn't take the rookie championship already? I swear, if you said that was nothing, then you should be able to win it easily!" One of the Salamons said,

"Yep-yep! What she said! I'll cheer for you!" the other Salamon said.

"He is about to but I promised with Honoka that we will take it together…" Umi said.

"Waiting for her? Meh, that's not quite a good decision, you see. I rather take one on my own— unless I want the chance of fighting against her in final round…" One of the Salamon replied.

"Though, in this state, do they still hold the championship?" Maki asked.

"Good question, do they?" Umi asked.

"The championships have nothing to do with the political issue. They will most likely use it to boost people's motivation to fight in the arena." Kotori said.

"Yeah… and I trust we just need to use that teleporter for a shortcut." One of the Salamon said.

"Ohhh! That one teleporter where Nozomi-chan left her bra!" the other Salamon said.

"T-There! Angel! Why did you remember that part?!"

"Ehehe! Because, that's the only thing that interests me!"

"Huh? Leaving her bra? Seriously?" Maki asked.

"Hehe, because the teleporter crystal itself always shines and they don't want to risk being found by the official or anyone else, so they needed to make a pocket and hang it inside bushes with similar colors!" Angel replied.

"C-Can she be more absurd than that….?" Maki smirked.

"I believe so!" Angel replied cheerfully.

"There's also the time when she decided to hunt in bikinis! It was fun because she also had—….!"

Before Angel able to finish her word, Lady covered her mouth.

"Nowwwwww! Angel! You are tooooo loud! Ahahahaha!" she said.

"Uhm…don't you think Angel is kind of… inheriting the same absurdness…" Hanayo whispered to Maki.

"I'm sure she is… but heck, what did she have…?" Maki replied.

"Barbeque-nya?" Rin said.

"Ice cream?" Kotori said.

"I... I'm thinking of something. But I swear I'm trying to not to think that way…" Umi said.

"Leettt'sss put the topic away, shall we? Ahahaha…!" Lady said.

* * *

At the garden near lobby;

Niko and Honoka managed to get to the path without getting chased by the gardener for stepping on the grass. Agumon and Chibby the Demi Devimon followed them as they browsed around the area.

Still on call with Eli and Nozomi, Honoka tried to keep her eyes open for any details that she is supposed to notice.

"Uh… So… we need to keep moving along the path?" Honoka asked again to confirm.

"Yes, then stop at the branched path— look at the center for the bush we described to you." Eli replied.

"We will have to hang up and work on adjusting the teleporter for you two. So you better keep yourself on track, ok?" Nozomi added.

"Alright!" Honoka replied cheerfully.

The call ended. Niko took a notice and she decided to ask the question shewas thinking of since they entered the garden.

"Did they tell you to get to the teleporter at the branched path?"

"Yep! Hehe…" Honoka replied.

"Huuh…? Alright… we will get there soon enough…" Niko replied.

"Great!" Honoka replied again.

"Do you not want to try to travel to the branched path though? They have some nice stuff kept there from time to time…"

"But…Nozomi-senpai and Eli-senpai said, we should stay on track…" Honoka said.

"Are you sure? One of the branched paths will lead you to a meat farm…" Niko said with a mischievous smile.

"M-meat farm!" Agumon said.

"Yep, a meat farm. They give free meat every day to players. It's an amazing place, I tell you!" Chibby said.

"T-that sounds interesting…" Honoka said.

"We can always return once we get them. It's totally safe, I assure you!" Niko replied.

"Yeah, it won't even take longer than ten minutes." Chibby said.

"I'm not sure…" Honoka said.

"H-Honoka-chan! Agumon want fresh meat! Agumon tired of eating veggies or bread every day!" Agumon begged.

"A-Agumon!" Honoka began to doubt.

"Poor thing, I bet someone is putting you on a diet!" Niko said.

"Yeah! The merciless Penguinmon always keeps track of my food! He said too much meat is bad so I must eat lots of veggies to maximize my training potential!"

"See? This should be your opportunity! To the meat farm, my friend!" Chibby said before Niko, Agumon, and Chibby continued to walk.

"W-whoa! W-wait! Agumon! Niko-senpai!"

* * *

 **See you next chapter ^^**

 **Hope you're still enjoying it!**


	9. Ch9: The Heat of Battle

**Next chapter!**

 **Thanks for the enthusiasm and the patience! I know Digimon isn't that popular among Love livers, but I feel like really writing this coz I'm such a Digimon nerd lol! So yeah, I feel so glad that some people enjoyed this as much as I do!**

 **Thanks to LightRiver33 for the edits!**

* * *

The Meat Farm—Digital world;

"Wh-whoaaaah! I never thought of this as an actual meat farm! I thought it will be like a barn or something of that sort but they really plant meat!" Honoka said as her eyes sparkled at the size of the meat she plucked from the ground.

"Hehehe—told you! Amazing isn't it?" Niko said proudly.

"Nyom-Nom-Nom—Honoka-chan! These meat are so tasty!" Agumon said as he ate the meat he picked on his own. Chibby is floating next to him.

"Wh-whoa! Why did you pick them all!?" Honoka said loudly.

"Don't worry, it's free, so pick as much as you can!" Niko said confidently.

"R-Really? These are free?" Honoka confirmed.

"Yep! Totally free!" Niko replied.

"Alright then, let's pick them all!" Honoka said cheerfully as she began to pick the meat her eyes darted to.

* * *

Meanwhile, at home;

The purplenette sat on the blonde's lap. Their faces are so close that there's no way for them to deny that they are making out. Both had their hands wrapped around each other and their lips are swollen. They might have a nearly full cyber-body right now, but their reactions were still natural.

When they finally stopped their intimate time, they turned back to the screen. They were expecting that their teleport invitation has been accepted, yet their invitation screen was left hanging and not even a sign of anyone trying to accept it showed.

"How long have we been waiting now, Nozomi?" Eli asked.

"About fifteen minutes, a pretty long time…" Nozomi replied.

Eli quickly opened the map—showing two club-marked players along with their digimon. They're not in the place they're supposed to be.

"They went off track!" Eli said with a hint of anger in her voice.

"Looks like Nikocchi won this round…huh?" Nozomi said.

"We should've paid attention…" Eli sighed heavily.

"Not your fault, Ericchi. We trusted them too much. Let's give them a call and tell them to get back to the designated place." Nozomi said.

Eli didn't respond and just kept doing what exactly she needed to do.

The call is made but she waited for a while. For some reason, a very loud static noise could be heard. She hung up her call and tried to contact the same person but...

 _R…._

 _Registering Digimon…._

Then a static noise started again after the robotic voice said the words.

 _Preparing…._

 _Opponent Calculation…._

 _Loading…_

 _Penalty Data…._

And as robotic voice said the words, Eli's eyes widened. She turned off her phone call and quickly ran out of the room.

"Ericchi!" Nozomi shouted, though she knows that it might be no use if she tried to catch up with her—it's better if she knows where she might be going. She tried to call the person Eli called before…

… _.marked for Annihilation…_

 _Counter Type: Data…._

 _Counter Attribute: Water…._

 _Finishing progress…._

Nozomi knew it very well, alas, she had experienced this before. She decided to run out of the room, hoping that she is fast enough to do what needed to be done.

* * *

Outside their home;

The blonde ran out of the house so quickly—though the bluenette and the scarlet girl noticed her.

"Eli-senpai…?" they whispered, taking the rest of the girl's attention.

Seeing how fast Eli was going, the two knew that something isn't right. Renamon who has been hanging out with them decided to join her before Umi and Maki decided to do the same along with their Digimon who followed them from behind.

"W-wha-wait! Everyone! Shouldn't you all just take a break?" Kotori tried to reason.

"I-It's useless Kotori-chan! Uh…I can't fly, I'm still sore!" Biyomon said as she tried to move her wings.

"Oi, Nozomi-chan, what's wrong?" Lady said as she saw Nozomi stop at the house's entrance.

Nozomi shook her head before she walked over to where the girls are.

"Everyone…" she said with a pale face.

"Listen… there's a problem…" Nozomi continued.

"What's the problem? I'll help you!" Angel replied.

"Uh…? Problem…? Does it involve any physical exercise…? Lalamon doesn't seems to be in good condition right now…" Hanayo asked.

"I'm afraid, we all have to do this. But, worry not, I'll be able to recover each of your Digimon…though, we may need to be quick …" Nozomi replied.

"Please tell us what happened…" Kotori said, her face is full of concern.

"Honoka is being targeted by the similar mysterious attacker—the one that attacked Ericchi's Kuzuhamon before…" Nozomi replied.

Lady and Angel started to worry, Kotori, Rin, and Hanayo are flustered.

"Uh…what attacker-nya?" Rin asked.

"Kuzuhamon….? Isn't that a Mega Digimon?" Hanayo asked.

"Tell us more about it…" Kotori replied.

"It's a long story, we don't have enough time but, to put it simply… back then, when I was calling Ericchi before she entered her last S-Rank with her Digimon, I heard the same noise with the one that I heard just now when calling Honoka. It may be finished with marking her right now, so… that's why, we need to get to the city and get her to the arena." Nozomi said.

"E-eh…? But why?" Kotori asked again.

"Only the officials can solve this matter and we need to get their attention. Fortunately, the Rookie Championship should be there all the time, it will be easy for us to get her there at this very minute…" Nozomi said.

"E-Eh? Will that work?" Kotori asked.

"It might not, but at least we'll get their attention if they happen to be attempting to kill her Digimon in the arena or somewhere close by." Nozomi said.

"But…. With the current state, will that work? Everyone is trying to kill each other…" Hanayo said.

"I know, it's better than nothing. We really need to try somehow." Nozomi said.

"What if we just report right away-nya? Like…to Lucemon perhaps?" Rin suggested.

"I'm very sure Lucemon is only working for the housing system. He wouldn't want to think of other matters…" Nozomi replied.

"Shouldn't safety inside our home be guaranteed too-nya?" Rin asked.

"Yes, but you wouldn't want to spend your whole life at home, right? We need to settle this." Nozomi replied.

"How are you so sure that getting to the arena will solve it?" Hanayo asked.

"Ahh… I get it! Remember one of the newest step in the Arena registration? Our Digimon will be scanned for malware. Isn't that—…..wait…." Kotori paused.

"W-wait-wait! Just a question… was the Digimon who died in the Arena before Eli-senpai's Digimon…?!" Kotori exclaimed.

Nozomi nodded.

"I've never paid attention to that detail! Ahh! She must have experienced that before! Uh…let's go help them out!" Kotori said.

"Ok-nya!"

* * *

The city of memory—meat farm;

"Ahhh! I got a lot of meat today!" Honoka said cheerfully as she patted her bag full of meat. Agumon, who stood next to her, seemed to be very happy with his full belly as well.

"Awesome, right?" Niko replied—her bag is also filled with a lot of meat and her Chibby was carrying his own bag filled with meat as well.

"Let's go home and show them our haul!" Honoka said.

"Sure, they will be thankful for our kindness." Niko said proudly. The two tamers and their Digimon walked out of the meat farm though, as they reached the entrance, a Digimon blocked their path— a strangely aquatic Digimon that is not supposed to be found in that place.

It was a digimon with the form of a white Loch Ness monster and furious eyes.

Niko and Honoka were clueless about how hostile the Aquatic Digimon is so they just kept walking and ignored it, however their Digimon were more alert…

"Niko-chan!" Chibby said as he pulled her back.

"Honoka-chan!" Agumon ran and blocked her path.

"W-what's wrong?" Honoka asked.

Within a second, the huge Aquatic Digimon screeched a terribly loud, hostile sound.

"Wh-whoaa?!" Niko and Honoka were surprised when they heard it.

Without a moment to spare, the aquatic Digimon began its attack and it specifically targeted Agumon. It cast a very quick shower of ice needles—though before it reached them, a shade of yellow swiftly snatched both Agumon and Honoka away while also kicking the little girl some distance away.

"Honoka!" Umi, who just arrived, shouted.

Maki followed right behind Umi along with Penguinmon and her Lunamon.

Honoka found herself, along with her Agumon, carried away by a very tall fox-like Digimon.

"R-Renamon! You saved our lives!" Agumon said.

"W-waah! Thank you Renamon!" Honoka said.

Renamon didn't speak but focused on the Aquatic Digimon instead as it attempted another strike—which she once again quickly dodged.

Niko got up from her fall and immediately operated her digivice to scan the Digimon that attacked her. She noticed that the Digimon is marked as a trained Digimon—which means that someone owns this Digimon, but…

 _Plesiomon (Lv90 / 45%)_

 _Type : Data_

 _Attribute: Water_

 _Owner : Bugged_

 _Personality: Bugged_

"W-what the hell?!" Niko exclaimed.

"Oi! Move already before you get mauled too!" Maki said loudly.

"Huh?! I know! Damn it!" Niko replied before she ran to where the others are.

"Niko-senpai, Eli-senpai is registering Honoka to the Arena right now. She told me that you should help us to deal with this Digimon." Umi said.

"Is she nuts? This is probably a Mega Digimon and, even though it looks small, we won't be able to fight with it just by ourselves!" Niko said.

"She gave us these…" Maki said as she handed three cards, they all have the same picture and name— a picture of clock and rotating arrows with the printed words _The Future is Here!_ From the looks of it, it appears to be a set of silver cards.

"R-rare cards… God Damn it. Are these really for free?" Niko said.

"Yes, but since we don't know how to use it, can you teach us?" Umi asked.

"Sure, but … do you two at least have a card machine?"

"I've got one, but I haven't really learned how to use it since we've never stumbled into anything that needed it." Maki said.

"Kotori told me that she bought one for me too but I don't know where I can find it…." Umi said.

"Sheesh, then I have no choice, huh? The option is in your digivice under the Battle Mode Setting and you need to activate your Card-machine. It will takes more from your battery so make sure to turn off the function once you are done with it, ok?" Niko explained as she demonstrated it to the two juniors. A machine appeared on Niko's wrist and….

"Wwahaaaaa! R-Renamon! Please stop moving! I'm dizzy!" Honoka said loudly as Renamon moved around with them quickly to dodge the attacks of the Bugged Digimon. Agumon seemed to be losing his consciousness— probably also because he is being carried around too much.

With sure movements, Niko tapped her card against her Card machine and Maki and Umi copied her actions. The card dissolved as a bigger version of it appeared right in front of their Digimon.

Each of the rookie Digimon digivolved into their mega forms. While Niko expected her Digimon's evolution, Umi and Maki were astonished by the form of their rookie digimon.

Chibby the Demi Devimon turned into a clown-like Digimon with a mischievous smile and swords on his back. He wore a red clown costume with a long blue ribbon on his back and a green balloon trouser with fancy yellow boots.

Maki's Lunamon turned into a majestic female-like Digimon with white and blue armor decorated with crescent moonsand complete with long pink ribbons on its back. She held a unique blue staff as a weapon.

Umi's Penguinmon transformed into a black metallic wolf-like Digimon with a pair of white blades on his back. He isn't exactly what Umi wanted, but it's so close to the form that she adored.

As the three Digimon evolved, their tamers received new data for their Digimon's personal information.

Niko's Digimon is a Piedmon, known as a mischievous Digimon that uses swords to attack. He is obviously a Virus type Digimon, which means that he will certainly have the advantage with the fight they're about to face.

Maki's Lunamon is a Dianamon, rumored to be a Digimon capable of surviving in absolute zero. Rumors also say that she is capable of causing a massive sleep status on any number of enemies. As a Digimon who stand between Light and Dark, she is a Data Type Digimon whichis neither at an advantage nor disadvantage for the battle they're about to face.

Umi has always wished for the line of the most popular Wolf-like Digimon, the keen eyes, the ability to analyze and the ability to lock onto their target. Everything is so perfect, especially when it is combined with the blue metallic body but hers is a metallic black and not the Digimon type she expected.

"A virus…." Umi said. Her voice show how burdened she suddenly felt.

"Alright—let's show them who's boss!" Niko said proudly.

"Heh—you don't need to tell me that!" Maki replied to her.

Chibby and Dianamon prepared themselves…

"Umi…" Black Metal Garurumon called her but the bluenette did not respond because she was still staring at the screen of her Digivice.

"Umi!" Black Metal Garurumon called her once again.

"A-ah! S-Sorry, Penguinmon! I… I mean—…" Umi's voice drifted away.

"Black Metal Garurumon…." She whispered.

Black Metal Garurumon nodded gently at her.

"Let's focus on the task." he said.

"Yes, let's do it…" Umi replied.

Then, as all three Digimon stood prepared, Renamon swiftly dashed towards those three Digimon and their tamers.

* * *

The Real World;

The A-Rise planned to take action again today. Erena and Anjuu are preparing their items but Tsubasa didn't seem to bother with that. Their Digimon are currently attending a briefing with the rest of S-Ranked Tamers in the real world.

The current state of Real World has not improved much from the day before. Wild Digimon were still spawning and some of the strongest terrors are making their way to the real world.

While waiting for her friends, Tsubasa was tracking Honoka's Digivice through her laptop. She knew what's going on and she wished to make her move but, at this time, she still has some doubts with her next move.

It is very unlike her but, when it is about the life of her special crush, she doesn't want to commit a single mistake.

After a while, a break-in program suddenly attempted to get into one of Honoka's status data. Tsubasa's eyes widened and she swiftly scanned the program before deciding to take action. Some of the information shown seemed familiar to her but it took a while for her to recognize the ID numbers of the Program's mastermind.

The short-haired girl quickly grabbed her digivice and searched for the person that she assumed the hacker to be. She may have never actually contacted this person but the person she assumed is the hacker has always been popular in the Digital World's hacking community.

Not that Tsubasa isn't popular— she is also one of the most popular among hackers— but this person has always been her most troublesome rival and one who is clever enough to break-in to her personal information.

She made a call with her digivice and waited for a while until it was accepted.

"Hey now, why are you checking out my Honoka?" Tsubasa asked immediately.

"Are you calling me just to ask such an unimportant question?" the gentle voice replied.

"It's important to me, why are you trying to break in her status?" Tsubasa asked again. Her voice is loud enough to grab Erena and Anjuu's attention.

"None of your business." the voice replied coldly.

"It's my business and I mind it as much as you would mind if I break in to your Nozomi's personal data." Tsubasa replied with an even colder tone as she quickly used her freezing program to stop the other's program from loading its system.

"Tsubasa! Look who you're talking to!" Erena complained as she is about to approach her, though Anjuu quickly grabbed her and gestured that it's better if they stay out of their business.

"Look, the only thing I need is to snatch a few personal information. No harm will be done. I need to register her to the Arena as soon as possible." the voice replied.

"And you think the official can help you, huh? You're naïve. The Official isn't as honest as you think. Even if it only a small part, they're still corrupt. You're gambling her life and I won't allow it."

"Then you want me to do… what? Let her Agumon suffer the same fate as my Kuzunoha? Besides, I don't get it, what do you mean by gambling her life…? I've been there so I know the official can help us."

"They can because you made it a big deal and it was an S-Ranked tournament so they didn't want their dirty side seen by the whole world. Believe me, you're not the first. There's something bigger going on that you need to see." Tsubasa said

"W-whatever you're talking about, I don't have time to argue!"

"Just drop whatever you're trying to do! I won't allow you to gamble her life!" Tsubasa said angrily.

"I'm not! I'm trying to save her Digimon, you idiot! It has nothing to do with her!" the voice replied angrily.

"I said, drop it and listen to me, you moron!"

"Fine! I'll drop this but whatever happens to her Digimon later, it will be your fault!"

The connection went off and all the program cancelled its attempt to break in.

"What the hell? I said ' _listen to me'_ not _brush me off_!" Tsubasa complained as she look at her digivice.

* * *

Back in the Digital World;

Renamon has been carrying the Ginger girl along with her Digimon, jumping through places to get into the Tournament Hall. The place is supposed to be easy to go through but, with the current chaotic state, some places are inaccessible and they have to take another path.

It was not only on the land, the fight between tamers and Digimon seemed to be happening in the air and water as well. It is not easy to find the path but, for Honoka and Agumon's safety, Renamon is trying her best to reach the place her tamer told her to meet.

After a few more jumps, Renamon finally reached the entrance of the Tournament hall but she also found it impossible to enter as the crowd is thick in the place as well.

"Wawahwhaw… I'm so dizzy, please stop…" Honoka begged.

"Ah… sorry, you have to get through this…" Renamon replied gently as she finally placed the two down on the ground.

"Wwawawa….Thwoldewsewnding…." Agumon said. He couldn't even stand on his own two feet.

Renamon sighed before she looked around her. Some people in the crowd are fighting, some are crying, some are praying— then there were some who were shamelessly selling their goods. It's a real big mess but what can she do as a Digimon who is still seeking full acknowledgement from her own master? Alas, even if she is acknowledged, what can she do to solve this mess?

"Eh…Where are we now?" Honoka asked after she finally regained her focus and her head stopped spinning.

"Outside the tournament hall…." Renamon replied.

"W-whoa… for whose tournament?" Honoka asked.

"Supposedly yours but… I wonder why Eli hasn't contacted me to say which tournament terminal we should go to.…"

"M-Mine? But I didn't register any tournament… I mean…I plan to… but—…"

"There you are…" a gentle yet cold voice was heard.

A blonde walked up to them with a laptop in her arm and a digivice attached properly on her head.

"Uwoo! Eli-senpai!" Honoka said loudly and cheerfully.

"Why did you even leave the track? I told you not to and now we have to do this. It would've been easier if you obeyed us…" Eli frowned at her.

"Uhh… I'm sorry! Niko-senpai persuaded me! Right, Agumon?" Honoka said to her lizard Digimon.

"H-Hng…Yes! I was mesmerized by the offer for meat! I've not eaten meatthe whole month!" Agumon said.

"It was meant for your diet! Being overweight will make you slower and you'll digivolve into what you do not wish to!" Eli said clearly.

"Y-you're right… I'm sorry!" Honoka and Agumon said, giving the guiltiest face they can make.

"Eli, what about the tournament?" Renamon asked.

"Canceled. Someone isn't allowing me to register her…" Eli replied.

"Who?" Honoka asked.

Eli only smirked in response.

"Uh…Eli-senpai?" Honoka tried again.

"Listen, do you want to give it a shot anyway?" the blonde asked back.

"The Arena?" Honoka asked.

"Yes. If you want to, I can do that quickly and you won't even need to queue with these people." Eli said.

"I'm not sure… have I got enough practice? Agumon also doesn't seem to be in proper condition." Honoka said.

"I'm fine, Honoka-chan! I've got enough meat! I can fight again!" Agumon said.

"It's close to dusk so, if you register now, he will be finished just in time for his bed time right after the tournament." Renamon said.

"Oo! That sounds perfect. Then I guess I'm in? But… why so sudden? I don't even understand why Eli-senpai exerted so much effort to register me in the tournament?" Honoka replied.

"There's a step in the tournament registration that you need to get through. We could've gone to a Digi-lab instead but the tournament scan will be much more effective and cheap." Eli explained.

"Alright! Then let's do this!" Honoka replied cheerfully again.

* * *

The City of Memory, entrance;

The other group that consisted of Nozomi, Kotori, Rin, and Hanayo couldn't even enter the city since the riots have overwhelmed the place. Their Digimon seemed to be somewhat bewildered at how many tamers are fighting about their opinions right now.

"This is bad, we can't even enter the city…." Nozomi said.

"To begin with, why do people have to beat each other for this-nya?" Rin was saddened as she saw some injured Digimon left on the ground along with their tamers.

"To add their voice, Rin-chan. The more people support their favored world, the better it will be for them." Hanayo replied sadly.

"It doesn't make sense-nya. Wouldn't this just make both worlds weaker?"

"If those people are smart enough to think like that, then they wouldn't be doing these things, Rin-chan." Nozomi said.

"But… shouldn't we just go do something? I'm worried about Honoka-chan…" Kotori said.

"Ericchi and the others must've secured them and we may need to do something else." Nozomi said.

"Uh… but, how are you so sure that they secured them?" Hanayo asked.

Nozomi remained silent and put on her serious face. Then she suddenly took out a lot of cards—but not the Digimon cards that they know is useful for the Digimon Online.

"Oh— the fortune Goddess! Please tell us where we should go to!" she shouted before she spread all the cards in her hand. An mysterious wind blew past them and the cards flew everywhere— except for one card that hit her own face.

She carefully picked it up and revealed 'The Upward Fool' card.

"The cards have spoken… all we need to do right now is to be random!"

"Whoaah….." Hanayo, Kotori, and Rin clap their hands in awe while Lalamon, Gaomon, and Biyomon have absolutely no idea what just happened, Angel cheerfully collected the scattered cards while naming each of them, and Lady just remained silent with her palm on her face.

"So… how random-nya?" Rin asked.

"That's what I wonder too…" Kotori said.

Without warning, Nozomi picked up two pebbles from the ground then throw those to random a person. Before her crime was discovered, she quickly shouted:

"How rude! Throwing pebbles to an innocent person!"

"Yeah, who did that to me?!" the person whose head was hit by the pebble said. Though, as he turned around, he saw someone who was holding a pebble.

"You!" he pointed to the person who held the pebble.

"I-It wasn't me! I got hit on the head by this thing too!" he said.

"Boooo! Not cool! Not admitting their mistake isn't cool!" Nozomi heckled.

"Yeah! You must be a human-world supporter!" the other said.

"W-what?! But I'm one of you guys!"

"This is a declaration of war!" The other shouted before some other people began to yell. The crowd, which was already noisy, became even noisier. It's no longer just a massive Digimon duel because, now, even the tamers started to hit each other.

Quickly, Nozomi beckoned to the girls and their Digimon and gestured that they should be as stealthy as they can to get through the mess.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the City of Memory's garden;

The Bugged Digimon is close to being defeated but Piedmon and Dianamon seem to be running out of magical power and their card's effect. Umi's Digimon, Black Metal Garurumon didn't fight as hard as he usually does, not that he refuses to use his preserved stamina, he just rarely received commands from his tamer.

Umi is too bothered as she controlled her 'dark' Digimon. She didn't like his color, not even the furious eyes. Has she done anything wrong in her practices? Did the card give her a random evolution? She wished that it's not the evolution she'll be getting later.

"U-Umi! We're out of stamina!" Niko shouted.

"A-ah!" Umi snapped out of her thoughts.

"Hurry up! Finish him!" Maki said.

"G-got it!" she nodded.

"Black Metal Garurumon! Finish him!"

"Got it!" he replied before he shot a lot of missiles into the Loch Ness monster-like Digimon.

The Bugged Digimon data began to crumble, eventually turning into a small digimon that looked like a white seal. Soon after it happenned, Dianamon turned back into Lunamon, Chibby the Piedmon into Demi Devimon while Umi's Black Metal Garurumon still maintained its form because his power wasn't yet fully utilized.

"Haaaah! That was a tough fight, don't you think?" Niko stated.

"Not really, it was purely because we have someone who's not quite focused today…" Maki said as she glanced at her senior, Umi.

"S-sorry…. I just….have something on my mind…." the bluenette said.

"It's rare to see you like that, Umi… are you sick?" Black Metal Garurumon said.

"N-No…not at all…" Umi replied, faking a smile to her own Digimon.

"I have still got some power to take you back home, the teleporter nearby might be better for our use too…" Black Metal Garurumon said again.

"Yeah, if you're sick, it's better if you returning home." Lunamon agreed with him.

"No, I'm really fine!" Umi retorted.

They stayed silent for a while…

"I'm sorry…. I… should not have worried you all…" she said.

"It's fine. But for real, what's on your mind?" Niko asked.

"It's nothing, really. Please let's just move forward with our schedule. We're not supposed to go back to home yet, from what I remember." Umi said.

"Huh? Ok, I guess…" Niko smirked, still curious s cast about the bluenette's thoughts.

"Didn't Eli tell us to meet her inside the Tournament Hall?" Maki said.

"Ah, yes, exactly. Let's go to the Tournament Hall!" Umi said somewhat nervously before she walked away, followed by her Digimon who was still under the effect of the card.

Lunamon and Chibby looked somewhat flustered and were wondering what exactly is happening in the mind of that specific human. Maki and Niko shrugged when their eyes met but, knowing that there's still a task at hand, they decided to follow their Digimon.

* * *

The Tournament Hall;

Eli registered Honoka to the tournament and, according to tournament registration procedure, Agumon was listed for examination. Even though they can skip the registration queue, they still couldn't skip the examination queue. Renamon accompanied Agumon in the queue while both their tamers sat on the benches along with other tamers.

Since Eli never liked crowds, she decided to sit with Honoka on the lone bench far from the queue train. Honoka remained silent. She actually wish to have a conversation—or say anything in this case. She doesn't really know the senior she is with but she knows the girl who she is always-always-always together with.

"Say!" Honoka said all of a sudden.

The blonde senior's heart nearly jumped out of her chest. She would complain but, remembering that she needs to be nice to this person—who might just lose her Digimon if not treated properly— she decided to listen to her.

"How long have you been friends with Nozomi-senpai?" the ginger girl asked with her cheerful eyes.

"I met her in the first year of HighSchool." The blonde replied somewhat gently.

"She ran up to me and ask me to be her friend." she continued but her eyes were looking away from Honoka.

"Ok!" Honoka replied.

The conversation stopped there until Honoka decided to ask another question.

"Are you two dating? I think Kotori-chan and Niko-senpai often talked about you two dating each other!"

"What's with that question? You've got her in your contacts, right?"

"Ehehe, well, I thought that having a partner in game must have its own benefit so some are just plain partners but not actually a real couple!" Honoka replied.

"I see, that's a good thinking. But yes, you are right. It has its benefits and we started from such an idea… or excuse…" Eli replied.

"Excuse….?" Honoka wondered.

"Hmm…I don't know if you would understand, but… back then, we were just distant friends to each other. We always wished to get along with each other even though our mind have never be the same with each other. It was hard for me to accept her in my life… and… maybe she nursed so many wounds from my words…"

"Wounds…? How did your words wound her?" Honoka asked.

"I told her everything I can to make her go away and forget about trying to be my friend: from mocking physical assets to accusing her that she was faking her attitude towards me. But she just gave me that smile and…" Eli sighed,

"…instead of going away, she followed me everywhere, even to my home." she continued.

"W-whoa! She stalked you?!" Honoka asked.

"Yes… she is so persistent… I finally gave up and listened to what she truly wanted from me. Then she said she just wanted to be my friend and the words that wounded her will just be some words from the past. I gave her a chance then… we walked around the city … and the only thing that I remember is that she dragged me to random places, including the Digital World Station in our world."

"Oohh…! Did you two register that time?"

"Not quite. I have no interest to online gaming back then. She said she just wanted both of us to have a shared purpose for being together so we may want to join the game. I already told her many times that I don't want to do it–until we reached the exit and something began to happen to both of us…"

"S-something?" Honoka wondered.

"Yes. I don't really know what happened. I thought that it was just a trick pulled off by the official to make us both play but, I swear, our lives were in grave danger and there were no officials around to help us. We even saw a few others get distorted like they're made of pixels in that place…"

"W-wait there! What happened?!" Honoka tried to press for details.

"I told you, I don't really know." Eli replied.

"O-Ok… so…how did you get out of that unknown situation?" the ginger girl asked again.

"That time, we had no idea. When we went there for the first time, we talked to a few people who were there and they told us that they've been stuck there for a while. Some are already players while others are just friends of players. None of them understood why it was happening and some players told us that they can't even use their Digivice to log out like always. That was until we decided that the clue to getting out of that situation rested on how the place looked like an empty domain with many programs, and some others which formed Digital Monsters acted like a sort of Antivirus or Malware. We found out that, in order to exit that place, we needed to hack our way out."

"We found a screen with a program written in the place we came from. I swear I had no knowledge about programming or hacking at all but, since I was forced to, I had to learn about it while Nozomi searched for other clues. It turns out that we got dragged in when a television experience a digital glitch and the way to solve it is to salvage this glitch and reverse its purpose."

"Is that how you two managed to get out?" Honoka asked.

"Yes. We even managed to save some people as well, though, we made a little mistake because we accidentally took out a Digimon with us…"

"What happened to the Digimon then?" Honoka asked curiously

"We return her to the Digital world by registering as player then freed them. We didn't want to be investigated on how we found her so we had to do it quietly. Though, in the end, she wanted me to train her." Eli's word ended with a sigh.

"Perhaps I kept her a little too long back then…" she whispered.

"But, is it possible for you to keep her? I mean, I thought we are supposed to scan the data and make our digimon in the lobby?" Honoka asked.

"It's possible if you find a Digimon that is willing. You only need to register them without handing any scanned data, just like Nozomi's twin Salamon… they are both friends of the Digimon who was willing to be my Digimon."

"Ooh… I didn't know! Is that Digimon your Renamon now?" Honoka replied.

"No…" Eli replied a little coldly.

"Ah! Hehe…I thought it was her!" Honoka replied.

"She is nothing like her…" the blonde's cold voice made it obvious how much she hated the statement.

Honoka seemed concerned. She wanted say something but it will probably piss the blonde off and a senior is a senior… maybe she shouldn't say whatever was on her mind.

"Even though they both came from the same species, they're not the same and will never be." she continued.

"Uh…Ehehe… well.. surely, nothing can replace the special one." Honoka said.

"I'm glad you understand. I'm sick of everyone telling me that she is replacing her…" Eli replied with a bitter smile on her face.

"Hehe… it might feel like when you wanted a bread with a strawberry jam but, because you don't have a strawberry jam, you had to use chocolate. Both might be a good snack but your mind will never be able to say that the chocolate can replace the taste of strawberry jam." Honoka said.

Eli couldn't comment about how Honoka compared her case with bread but it made sense somehow.

"Beggars can't be choosers though, right? Because I can't have strawberry jam, I have to enjoy the chocolate on my bread or I will never be able to enjoy my life!" she continued.

The blonde responds to her with a smile. The words might almost be deep enough to touch her heart.

"Eli-senpai! Do you like Chocolate?" Honoka asked.

"Extremely so. I'm a chocolate maniac." Eli replied with a smile still left on the corner of her lips.

"Oooh! Hehe, then, maybe you can say that your favorite chocolate is like your first Digimon, then the other one is another type of chocolate that you like! Both are chocolate so you should be able to enjoy both, right?"

It doesn't make much sense to Eli but Honoka is right. What makes her hate her new Digimon if they're from the same species? Is it because she was not as good as the first one? Perhaps she has been spoiled with the feeling of training a hard working Digimon like her Kuzunoha but her current Renamon isn't that bad, right? She is a hard working one too, though she seems to give up a little too easily … Just like Eli who wish to give up on being a tamer.

"By the way, Eli-senpai! Do you have a specific nickname for your Digimon? Like… Nozomi-senpai with Lady and Angel or Niko-senpai with Chibby?" Honoka asked.

"I had one with my previous digimon... I have none for this one." Eli replied.

"Ok! Hehe! I've been thinking of getting one for Agumon, but I don't know what I should name him!" Honoka said.

"Most people name their Digimon based on their last form... I'm one of them. I named my Renamon Kuzunoha after she won her Ultimate Tournament and digivolved into a Kuzuhamon. Nozomi named them Angel and Lady before they evolved into them tough. She said she kind of already settled on it—and she was right. As for Niko, because her Digimon is small, she wanted to embrace the size by naming him Chibby. " Eli explained.

"Oohh…hmm..but it isn't fun to have a nick name from the obvious. I mean, many people will have similar names, right?" Honoka said.

"That's true…" Eli replied.

"Hehe… maybe I should name him... Ichigo? I like strawberries so much!" Honoka said.

"Well…that's not a bad name but do you think he will like it?" Eli asked.

"I'm sure he won't!" Honoka replied cheerfully.

Eli remained silent, again, because she has no idea how to respond to the statement. The two became silent again but Honoka still wanted to have some more conversation to keep herself busy. She tried to think of a topic and, when she tried to look for anything that might interest the blonde, her mind brought up the image of a specific purplenette.

"By the way, Eli-senpai… how does it feel to fall in love with Nozomi-senpai?" Honoka asked.

Eli swears she almost chocked on air but she tried her best to keep her composure. The question was direct and she didn't even hear an apology for asking about something personal. She truly is about to snap at her for asking but she realized this girl might need to be comforted in case anything bad happens to her Digimon… So she decided to stay cool and respond to the question.

"What about you? Have you ever fallen in love before?" Eli asked, clearly trying to change the topic.

"Eh? No… I guess?" Honoka replied with innocent eyes.

The blonde remembers that there's someone who values this ginger-haired girl as much as she values Nozomi but, would it be necessary to ask about it? How does she truly feel about this specific someone?

"Now, you were asking how I feel about falling in love with Nozomi, right? The answer is, I feel good. Nozomi always treats me well and, whenever she is with me, I always feel comfortable and fearless. When we talk to each other, I feel like any topic she brings up is interesting. I swear, before I realized how I felt about her, everything seemed so boring and I didn't even want to put in any effort to speak to her."

"…she changed my world and I may have changed her world, for the better or worse. I'm really glad that I met her but a small regret that I may have is that I have never felt at peace in the past. My soul is now dedicated to making her happy and I feel like I'll be worthless without her. She makes me feel like the most important girl in the world as well."

As the blonde finished her words, Honoka wondered if she can relate somehow. In her mind, she can't remember feeling that way towards anyone specific other than her best friends, Kotori and Umi.

"Are you sure you don't have anyone who makes you feel important?" Eli asked.

"Hmm… my mother perhaps? My sister isn't that fond of me and she is…uh…a little cocky. My father… well…he is a little extreme, but… hehe, guess he is one of the people who makes me feel so special." Honoka replied.

"You're right, family will surely always make you feel important… but I was asking about someone outside of your family…." Eli said.

"Uhm… Umi-chan and Kotori-chan then? Kotori always protects me from Umi-chan's wrath but, at the same time, Umi-chan really cares about me and she would sometimes act like my father…" Honoka replied.

"Best friends, huh? That's right too. Nozomi is a best friend to me and I know the feeling of this special friendship so well. Is there anyone else you might have forgotten to mention?" Eli asked again.

Honoka remained silent. She looked like she doesn't have an answer for the question.

"Someone who wanted to embrace you, someone who wanted to be with you and spend their life time with you, someone who cares about you more than they care about themselves, someone who wants to make you smile and someone who wants to protect you at all cost."

"Hnnggg…. Is there anyone as selfless like that?" Honoka asked innocently.

"Of course! That's also a description of someone who's madly in love." Eli replied.

"Madly… in love…?" Honoka tilted her head slightly.

"I have always been madly in love with Nozomi and, right now, I understand when someone's selflessness is a wish to convey their mad love towards someone … it's nothing like a fatherly or motherly love, though. Those two are on a whole different level…" Eli replied.

"Does love have to be classified like that?" Honoka asked.

Eli giggled at her innocent response.

"Of course! You can't love someone more than you love anyone. Everyone in your life is part of you. One will always have a part of your love which can't be compared to another's love. Your love to your best friends, your love to your lover, your love to your god, or your love to your family, they're all different."

"I see…" Honoka replied as she thought deeply.

"Now think again… are you sure you haven't seen anyone who shows you big love other than your family and friends?"

"Uhm…" Honoka tried to think.

"Hehe…this is just a thought… I feel like Tsubasa-chan is trying to love me…" she continued.

Eli smiled softly. She is glad that someone is being recognized. Even though she isn't fond of this person, it wouldn't be fair if she reveals what she knows. There was something in the past that made her somehow want to repay this person's team's kindness… it was something pretty personal, she'd have to say.

"But…I'm not sure about it…." Honoka continued again.

The blonde just stayed silent and listened for what she may have to say after.

"Every time I talk to Tsubasa-chan, my heart beats so fast and the world is silenced. I can't even feel anything else other than this heartbeat of mine and her voice." Honoka said it with a slight blush on her face.

"Hehe, maybe I'm just a little coward to admit that, maybe, I have become one of her fans… she is an idol after all, right?" she replied.

Honoka was very oblivious but at least now she knows what kind of person she is dealing with.

"Is love toward an idol different?" Honoka asked, her innocent eyes directed into Eli's deep eyes.

"Adoring someone as an Idol, you mean? That surely is different. A love like that…. is dense and limited. People might be cheering for you and calling you the number one but, once you're off the stage, people will barely know you, put aside being understood. They may say that they're your loyal fans, truth to be told, they will move on from you when someone better comes along." Eli replied.

"Uh…I don't know if that is what I feel … I mean, I've never been a fan of idols and music until then…" Honoka replied.

"But there is one song that stuck in my head until now and it is Tsubasa-chan's group's song… that's why I thought that I've become one of her fans… though, hehe… I only know one song."

"The word fan come from the word fanatic. Would you call yourself a fanatic if you only know one of her songs?"

"Uh… right, I don't think so." Honoka replied.

"That was a trick, you can call yourself a fanatic even if you only have known one song. It's about how you show your enthusiasm towards her. You don't have to be a fanatic of her song, you see. You can always be a fanatic of her soul, her heart, or her love towards you."

"But would a fanatic be having a love as dense as what you described?"

"It's up to you to decide. You can always be an _actual, loyal fanatic_ or you can be like people who declare faithful love but move on from one to another as easy as picking their daily meals. When I described it before, it was only for you to think again about how you truly feel about her." Eli replied.

"I see… then I will think harder about what I truly feel towards her! Maybe I'm not her fanatic after all!"

"Sure." Eli replied with her gentle smile. Perhaps it's better to let what she just said go right now.

* * *

The City of Memory;

Nozomi, Kotori, Rin, and Hanayo have finally entered the city and were about to get themselves in the Tournament Hall, though they couldn't really do so since they're still on stealth, preventing anyone to engage them in an unnecessary fight. The city's condition may have worsened ever since they started a riot and a few people had been going around asking about one's favorite world. When one answers the opposite of their favorite, they will fight. When they answer the same, they will force them to join the group. When they say they don't favor any, they will try so hard to persuade or to threaten them to join theirs.

It's really troublesome and it's always better to stay hidden than to show up, especially knowing that Mega-ranked players are also roaming the area. It will never be safe for them to be confronted randomly.

They also know that some people used this mess as a chance to rob one's treasury, with the excuse of weakening the enemy, something that is legally done in a war.

The officials tried to stop the mess but, with the number of criminals, tragedies, and incidents, they barely able to detect each case. The guard Digimon also seemed to be overwhelmed and their threats are not heard. They can't possibly purge the city with force like how it was always done in the past—or so they think.

"T-this is a real mess, I wonder why the officials don't just use their super power to stop them?" Hanayo mumbled.

"Ehehe…maybe they tried to?" Kotori said as she watch a few official Digimon running towards a group, yet the group ran away along with their Digimon.

"We can't do anything about the city for now. Besides, this is just a start. Maybe they prepared something big to stop them… after all, they wanted peace, right?" Nozomi said.

"Where are we going again-nya?" Rin asked.

"To the Tournament Hall. I'm worried about Honoka-chan." Nozomi said.

"Do we have to do that? I mean, why don't we just wait for them?" Hanayo asked.

"Well, don't you want to watch her fighting? Rookie tournaments might be boring but I'm very sure you would want to watch her fighting." Nozomi said.

Soon after she said it, they saw Niko, Umi, and Maki with their Digimon.

"Ahh! Niko-senpaaaiii!" Rin shouted.

"Whoa! You all!" Niko stopped as she pulled Maki and Umi back. They decided to all turn around to approach them.

Kotori and Hanayo focused on the Black Wolf-like Digimon and their faces showed fear when his eyes glared at them.

"Waaaa!" The two made a distance from Black Metal Garurumon while Biyomon and Lalamon quickly hid behind their tamers. He might be oblivious about what made the two girls step back but Umi seems to be really bothered with what just happened.

"I-it's me, Penguinmon! I'm under a card effect!" he said.

"O…oh…." Kotori and Hanayo nods.

"I'm sorry about him…" Umi said with shame written boldly on her expression.

"It's fine, Umi-chan! We were just… surprised…" Kotori said.

"Y-yeah…!" Hanayo agreed to her.

"Hmm..so, who would've expected you to become a dark Digimon, huh? I totally thought you'd be a sea serpent or something of that sort since it fits your tamer's name." Nozomi said to Black Metal Garurumon.

"W-well…I…I don't know. I just got this power from the card…." Black Metal Garurumon replied.

"Card? Hmm… it must be those silver cards. Ericchi gave it to you huh?"

"We got one from her too. Now I got a Dianamon data in my digivice." Maki said.

"Yep, I looked really cool, too bad you didn't see me!" Lunamon said proudly.

"And for me, I got a Piedmon data. Told you I'll succeed on making my Digimon great." Niko said proudly.

"hehe, if you saw me you'll be mesmerized and all of your eyes will be on me!" Chibby the Demi Devimon said with his smug face.

"Really? I get the vibe that you're not that cool…" Lady said.

"Hmmph! Lady! Tsk-tsk, you're just jealous that I'll be colorful, miss-I'm-going-to-be-purple." Chibby said.

"Hey! What's wrong with purple? I think it looks great!" Angel said.

"Purple is boring!" Chibby said.

Then as he said it, all the people focused on Nozomi's hair and Nozomi's frowing face.

"I mean… In a good way…." Chibby continued. He knew that he screwed up so badly here.

"What's … boring in a good way-nya?" Rin asked.

"I knew that boxing is good… but I never knew how boring can be good." Gaomon added.

"Sh-should you add fuel to the blazing fire…?" Chibby smirked.

"You're on your own, Chibby!" Niko said.

"W-what? Wait… Why are you leaving me!?" Chibby protested.

"Huh? Of course it's because I don't want to deal with that witch!" Niko said.

"Hey, didn't you just add yourself to the shit-list by calling her a witch?" Lunamon asked the raven-haired girl.

As Niko's eyes turn into the purplenette, she realized that she just said something really terrible for her good small bust. They're going to be squished so hard and she won't even forget the pain anytime soon.

"I mean…Good witch! A witch doesn't have to be evil, right? It's not like you always look like a hellish demon or something like it!"

"Always….? So she always looked like a hellish demon but sometimes not-nya?" Rin asked.

"A-Are you doing that on purpose?!" Niko complained.

"I have to say, she is right. It really sounded like you're referring to how she always looked like a hellish demon and only seldom not …" Maki said.

"D-Do you just love seeing me tormented by a monster, huh!?" Niko complained again. Maki sighed at the statement. She swears that if she presses further, the little girl will just sink even deeper in trouble.

"E-everyone!" Hanayo tried to soothe the atmosphere.

"I-It's useless, Kayo-chan! S-Someone is going to do something really bad!" Kotori said.

Nozomi lifts both of her hands as her eyes shone bright, accompanied by her furious-mischievous smile.

"Chibby… Nikocchi..." Nozomi called them with her heaviest voice.

* * *

The Tournament Hall;

The examination is finished and Honoka and Agumon are now in the contestants' bench—just like how her friend was back before she registered for Digimon Online. It still feels funky for her that she is here as a contestant. This is her very first time and she is so excited to see how she will do with her Agumon.

Eli received the examination report but she did not seem to be satisfied with whatever result she read. Her expectation was way different with the reality and not a single result, other than the obvious information. is close to what she thinks.

Agumon is scanned and declared free from any malware— not even a mark is up on his head. She has seen a few bugged Digimon by salvaging them and everything else that she can do to their data. She swears that she saw a specific malware that could have been detected even by a non-expert hacker like her in the past.

How did the officials missed them? Are they really secretly corrupted, just like what Tsubasa said?

It's not possible, right? There must be another explanation or, perhaps, the malware isn't placed on the target but within the Digimon who are infected?

How does one Digimon become infected though? The digital world is a world with massive data transferred each second so how does one specifically get infected by those bugs?

So many question are lingering in her head but Eli decided to put those aside and pay attention to the girl to satisfy her curiosity. Renamon is faithfully sitting next to her among the empty seats, waiting to be spoken to, though it may be too much to expect since Eli never talks to anyone she doesn't like unless she is forced to. Renamon knows that she has to stay quiet as well, just so she is allowed to stick around her.

Ever since the day she gave up on her practice, Eli never talked to her about anything, not even a single personal request. All request are always things someone else needed her to do, even the one where Renamon helped Honoka and Agumon dodge the bugged Mega Digimon was not Eli's instruction her but her own decision.

The only one who talked to her all day is Angel and that's just because she can't stop talking to anyone around her, especially Lady. Renamon just kept waiting but there is still no conversation initiated between them until the horn for the battle to start sounded off.

There isn't even a single commentator working in the very boring tournament. The only people who were watching are the tamers and some small number of beginner tamers who haven't decided how to raise their baby Digimon.

A huge sign appeared on the screen near the stage saying "Honoka Kousaka versus Satoru Yamada." The ginger haired girl stood up and shouted.

"Whoa?! I'm the first to fight?!"

The blonde sighed and placed her palm on her face.

"Remember, Honoka! Stay calm and pay attention!" Renamon reminded her.

Eli doesn't look impressed, though she took notice of what Renamon just did.

"Woah! Ok! Renamon! Thank you!" Honoka replied before she and Agumon ran up the stage.

The ginger girl's eyes turned to her opponent, Satoru. He is a guy who owns a Gabumon, a Digimon who stands on two legs, has a blue striped wolf-like coat with a single yellow horn on its forehead, a yellow belly and a blue oval shape drawn on its skin. Satoru seemed to be casual and somewhat sporty and his face might be a so-so too, but everyone will see him as a decent man.

"Let's fight!" he said to Honoka with a smile.

Honoka responded with her own wide smile.

"Yep! Let's fight!" she replied.

The countdown started.

"Three...!" a robotic voice from the speaker said.

"Two…!"

"One…!"

"Fight!"

As soon as the bell to start rang, Honoka lifted her fist and shouted,

"Go! Ichigo!"

Agumon quickly turned around instead of running towards her opponent.

"Huh? Didn't we agree that my nick name will be Steak?"

"Eh? What? No way! I didn't say that I agree with that!"

"What? I swear I heard you saying that my name can be Steak or Sirloin…" Agumon complained.

"No-no! Your name is Ichigo now!"

"But I like Steak or Sirloin better!" Agumon said.

"Noooo!" Honoka made an 'X' with her arm.

"What about Giant Meat? Or… Tenderloin?" Agumon offered.

His opponent doesn't even know if it's ok to start while Agumon and his tamer argued about his nickname.

"Nope! Nope! Just go, Ichigo!"

"Aaahh! Fine! My name is Ichigo now!" Agumon said before he turned around and breathed out a small fire towards Gabumon.

He wasn't even ready.

"G-Gabumon!"

Since Gabumon stood too close to the border of the Arena Ring, he lost his balance from the small impact then fell out the Ring.

The bell is sounded off again and Honoka and Agumon's victory was declared.

"I see… so that's how you do it… I shall learn from this failure…" Satoru said with a fiery heroic face.

"W-wah! Satoru! I'm sorry!" Gabumon said.

"That's ok, Gabumon! We learned about a new trick today! We shall do better next time!"

"Ok, Satoru!" Gabumon nodded.

Then they stepped down from the Arena and walked back to the contestants' bench with their hopeful and sincere expressions.

Eli, who sat on the audience bench, swears she has never seen a fight as lame as that. She couldn't help covering her face with both palms, wishing that the fight would've been boring instead of being lame.

Honoka returned to her contestant's seat feeling somwehere between happy for the victory or confused about what just happened. Agumon, now called Ichigo, sat next to her and said innocently …

"Hng…Honoka-chan, I think you're right. I won because I agreed to be named Ichigo…" Agumon said.

"Really? I thought it was because he fell off the ring…?" Honoka asked.

"Huh? Is that so? Maybe the name itself brings that much luck? I didn't do anything other than spit out a small fire?" Ichigo the Agumon replied.

"Hehe, either way, we won. Let's see how we will do in the next one!" Honoka said.

"Ok!" he replied cheerfully.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the real world;

A-Rise is finally finished with their daily tasks and now they're about to take a nice rest for the day. It's true that they have always been S-Ranked Players and they have won many tournaments as well but, at this rate, by the time they return to their normal activities as S-Ranked players, they would see a lot of people whose Digimon are stronger than the usual S-Ranked players from back then. Also, the fact that there is no level limit in the game means everyone can grow as strong as they can.

There are so many Digimon they needed to fight in the real world and, while some are too weak, some are stronger and some are annoying to deal with.

Erena and Ryuudamon decided to read before they headed to bed. It's already dark out and the Night Soldiers have been dispatched. Anjuu and her Lalamon seem to be working around the room, mostly with the cleaning tasks, while Tsubasa and her Black Agumon….

"Is this better, Black Agumon?" Tsubasa said as she used a digi-salve on his back.

"Yep, so much better now…" Black Agumon replied as he enjoyed the soothing sensation on his damaged back.

Erena put her book down and smirked at the two.

"Sheesh. I told you, just bring those salve to battle next time." she said.

"What are you talking about, Erena? The joy in battle depends on the pain you endure to achieve victory… and the Joy of victory comes from soothing the pain you received in your struggle." Tsubasa replied.

"It's dangerous, Tsubasa. You were lucky that they didn't poison you…" Erena said.

"Poison? I'm not scared. What's the use of the pretty ladies over there?" Tsubasa gestured to Anjuu and Lalamon.

Anjuu and Lalamon giggled at the compliment, though they gave no further response.

"Hey, you can't let her do all the support work, ok? Remember that we are supposed to be able to stand on our own." Erena said.

"Sheesh, you're a spoilsport. In any case, I'll be fine on my own if I want to venture on my own. My fortune goddess will protect me." Tsubasa said.

"Since when did you become a religious person?" Erena asked with an annoyed smirk.

"It's not even an imaginary goddess, my fortune goddess is an actual girl who has become my motivation to get through life. She is my reason for becoming who I am right now." Tsubasa said.

"And I suppose that's in a bad way since she doesn't have a good personality either." Erena said.

"Pffft, you're just jealous. Besides, without me, you wouldn't even be who you are right now." Tsubasa replied with a mocking glance.

"Really, why is she a role model to you? I thought you have never met her before that day…"

"Childhood memory, my friend, Ever heard of it?" Tsubasa replied.

"Ah, childhood memory? Why have I never heard of that?" Anjuu asked as she stopped working on her cleaning.

"I like that enthusiasm, Anjuu!" Tsubasa said.

"I met her back in my childhood!" she continued.

"I remember that day when I got so upset at home. I wanted a toy car so bad! I don't like dolls or cooking fake food. I just wanted a toy car! I don't like wearing skirts, I wanted to be a boy! So I ran away from home and refused to return until I can get a Toy Car!"

Erena smirked and mumbled something nobody heard.

"…I hid from my family and, naturally, I got hungry after I spent a night away from home. I wandered off to a playground and sat near a sandbox and drew something that came to my mind. It turned out to be bread with strawberry jam! Then… she showed up all of a sudden and—Aah! I remember that voice of hers saying: 'Isn't that Strawberry Jam Bread? I love those too!'" Tsubasa continued.

"Let me guess, she had some with her and shared it with you?" Erena said.

"Exactly, Erena. Then she also asked me why I was there so early. I told her everything then she said: 'I understand! My mother often scolds me for asking too much but at least she has been taking care of me and gives me everything else I like!'"

"Uh-huh…then you were touched and you realized that you shouldn't be a nasty selfish brat. Then you went home and said sorry to your mom and dad?" Erena asked.

"Nope, we played together after that. She never asked for my name and I never asked hers. We had a lot of fun together until my mom and dad found me. They were so glad and said that I shouldn't do that again." Tsubasa continued.

"…..and …you don't feel a single ounce of guilt after making them worried?" Erena asked again.

"Of course I did feel that! I'm not that bratty! Honoka was there with me and she helped my parents understand me by telling them what I've been doing with her! If she wasn't there, I wouldn't be able to realize how I was being so bad to my parents too! She is also the reason of why I could grow up freely as whoever I want to be! She also made me realize that being a woman isn't that bad!"

"How is that kind of thing related to that depth of understanding…" Erena sighed.

"Tsk-tsk. Erena, you know I've never been a good story teller…" Tsubasa replied.

Anjuu giggled.

"Now-now, you two stop being cute. But hearing her say all that makes me think that perhaps Honoka is truly who you should go after. Have you made another call to her today?" Anjuu asked.

"Yep! But I'll call her again later. I saw that she ended up willingly joining the tournament. Lucky that I managed to remove the malware and move it somewhere else before the official scanned her Agumon." Tsubasa said.

"Say what? You moved it somewhere else?! Are you nuts?! How could you do that?!" Erena protested.

"It's better than letting it be found by the official. Just imagine how the official will abuse the malware system." Tsubasa said.

"Why do you not trust the official that much, huh? Have they done anything bad to you?" Erena asked.

"Don't pretend that you didn't know, pffftt!" Tsubasa said.

"It wasn't their fault, we need to keep a neutral view, Tsubasa. We can't possibly be hostile towards them since they always provide what we need." Erena said.

"If it's possible, I'd like to be freed of the official too. There must be a way to do that, right? Hacking perhaps…?" Anjuu said.

"A-Anjuu! Don't give her ideas!" Erena said.

Tsubasa remained silent and thought.

"I'm pretty tired of keeping my rank just so that I can purchase what I need or sell my stuff and get taxed for my hard work. It's not like they're the ones who provided the marketplaces. We were the one who looked for our market." Anjuu said.

"It's just like the concept of a country or a government, Anjuu. It's true that they suck but they are needed so that the society wouldn't turn wild. Just imagine a world without rules… you'll be living a life in which you can't even close your eyes to sleep." Erena said.

"What's the use of having them if they can't even control themselves? A corrupted government is a sign of a weak constitution. They have no right to make us pay for their horrendous work." Anjuu replied.

"You're struggling, many people are, but what about them? They can't be all corrupted… there must be some who is still struggling like you. If you decide to stop paying taxes and leave their rule, you're no different. Also, you don't have to be involved in politics in order to live your life, you know. You can always struggle to fulfill your own way of living and see their dirty play as a mere obstacle. It's that simple." Erena replied.

"If there's an empty land, why not make our own rules? If there's a way for us to unchain our IDs from the Digital World Officials, I would absolutely do that." Anjuu said, to which Erena only replied with a sigh.

"Yeah…. You're right…" Tsubasa finally spoke up.

"Here she goes…." Erena complained.

"There must be a way to do it… but… we will need more brains to make that happen." Tsubasa said.

"Fine, if you really want to do that, then I say that you need someone like Eli Ayase, the person that you pissed off a while ago…" Erena said.

"Well, why do we need someone like her if we can just ask her anyway?" Anjuu said.

"You can't be serious. Tsubasa just pissed her off… do you think she can forgive someone easily?" Erena said.

"You know why a handsome, loyal, cold, powerful and gentle person like Eli Ayase is hot? Because they love their girl too much until she becomes their fatal weakness. You may not be able to convince her directly, but you can always persuade her through Nozomi-chan." Anjuu said.

"Hmm…yes, this starting to sound like the story of Samson from the Bible…" Tsubasa said.

"… except, this time, Nozomi also truly loves her and she would trick you to your doom if you ever try to harm her lover. We need a real strategy, a mere threat or bribe won't work." she continued.

Anjuu giggled at her remark.

"There, it's not like she isn't a friend to us. All we need to do is to explain the situation to her and see what she thinks about it. If we're lucky, she will agree and we don't have to find another way." she said.

"Ah, alright, then… you should do the talking, Erena!" Tsubasa said.

"Me?! I barely—….!" Erena was about to retort but, with Anjuu's eyes begging her, she sighed and gave up.

"Fine… I'll do it." She said before she took her digivice and made a call.

* * *

Kousaka's residence, the Real World;

Two girls are sitting in the small living room with a laptop connected to one of the Digivices. A long white digimon that almost looks like a ferret resting its feet on the table as he watch the screen while a blue dragon-like digimon with a V mark on its forehead was sitting next to the girls.

The girl with reddish brown hair sulked while the pale blonde girl kept her eyes on the screen. The Blue Digimon patted her back gently.

"Yuki-chan, come on… the next battle already started. You should keep your eyes there…" he said.

"Veemon…. You don't understand, do you? Having a sibling as embarrassing as her….I should not have given you the idea of watching her fight." Yukiho said.

"Well, she texted you and told you about her competition. The only reason I can think why she did is to make you watch. Basically, you're on the right track." Veemon said.

"I knew that. I don't usually care about her, though. Really… what kind of fight is that?" Yukiho said.

"At least she won…." the white ferret-like Digimon said.

"Kudamon! You don't support her for that kind of fight, right? I mean, naming her Digimon Ichigo all of a sudden and winning so suddenly too…" Yukiho complained.

"Ichigo isn't a bad name." the blonde girl said.

"Alisa! Not you too!"

"E-eeh? But I'm just saying... It sounds interesting!" Alisa replied.

"Maybe we should consider a nickname too?" Veemon said.

"Surely, hehe.., my big sister used to have one Digimon with a nickname. She loves that name and proudly calls herself when she is alone! She's really cute!" Alisa said.

"Ah, right-right, your sister… I've heard about her a lot. The name of her Digimon is… Kuzunoha, isn't it? Kuzunoha the undefeated Kuzuhamon." Yukiho said.

"But… you said, 'used to'… does that mean she is no longer with that Digimon?" she continued as her face somewhat gloomed.

Alisa smiled wryly.

"She is dead. No trace of her data was found, not a single one. She can't be recovered and even the back up of her data in the official storage is burnt to a crisp. Only some parts of her junk files were used to create a brand new Digimon of the same type." she explained.

"W-wow….that sucks. Is she at least the same size?"

"Nope, hehe… the official apologized for the incident and gave her a really big Digimon. I don't think she likes her though… not yet…" Alisa said.

"I understand, it must be hard for her to move on from the one she loves…" Yukiho replied.

"But! I believe they will get along!" she continued.

"Yep, hehe, it will take a long time but Onee-san isn't a bad person! She is just hard to approach!" Alisa said.

"Heee—really, your sister does looks like a cool person who barely talks to anyone."

"Hehe, she just has some insecurities." Alisa replied.

"At least she is not as embarrassing as my sister…" Yukiho pouts.

"I think your sister is very friendly. She makes everyone comfortable."

"Really? Here I thought she is just being an idiot in front of everyone."

"S-She can't be that bad…hehe…" Alisa said with a sincere smile before the two turned their attention back to the laptop screen.

* * *

Outside the tournament hall—Digital world;

As Nozomi led the girls through the halls, they passed through a few riots and some people who were trying to prevent the fights. At this point, they thought there's no time to linger and get challenged to a duel since they needed to see Honoka and Eli. When Umi's Black Metal Garurumon finally lost his power after dashing through some people and turned back into Penguinmon, Lady and Angel took their turn to evolve into their Ultimate forms just so that players would think twice before throwing their challenge.

It proved to be somewhat effective since no one tried to challenge them until they reached the entrance of the audience ticket box. When they got there, they quickly purchased some almost-free-entry-tickets for themselves and for their Digimon.

As soon as they reached the audience seat rows, Nozomi's digivice started ringing. She took a moment to consider if she should accept the call immediately or to let it ring until she reached the audience seats and sat next to her girlfriend.

"A call from Erena Toudou…" Lady said.

"My, isn't that rare?" Angel said.

Nozomi stopped, along with the rest of the girls.

"Erena from A-rise?" Hanayo asked.

"Whoa, that's rare… accept her call, quick!" Niko said,

Nozomi nodded slightly before she accepted the call.

"Nozomi, are you alone right now?" Erena immediately asked as soon as she realized that her call was accepted.

"Mmm….." Nozomi hummed before she gestured to the girls to go first.

The girls nod before they continued to run—this time, Niko led them. Lady and Angel were left behind with their tamer. They can listen to the conversation since they're always connected to the call in Nozomi's digivice.

"I have a business to attend to right now but I'll at least listen until I know what you wished to talk about." Nozomi responded.

* * *

The Tournament Hall's Arena;

Honoka patiently waited for her next turn as she and Agumon snacked on the chips they just got from Kotori. The ash Brunette decided to offer to serve as Honoka's support while the rest of the girls just took the liberty to sit anywhere they wanted. After all, not many people wanted to watch it live.

"Sheesh, Rookie Tournaments are such a pain in the ass… always unpopular and boring." Niko commented as she drank the digi-coke she just got from the vending machine placed just next to the audience seats. Maki sighed at her statement.

"Since Lunamon already got through this stage, I feel your pain. But for real, why do we have to watch this? I wouldn't want to be watched if I'm her." she said.

"Because you are a shameful creature?" Niko said.

"No, idiot… It's because it makes me nervous. Also, at least I have shame, unlike you!" Maki replied.

"Being shameless is not a bad thing, you know. I'm a cute a girl so why would I be ashamed. Didn't you fall for me at first glance?" Niko replied with a snobby smile.

"You mean, did I want to punch your face at first glance? Yes." Maki smirked at her.

"Oh, Come on! You're not giving that attitude towards your seniors, right?"

"If you're like Nozomi-senpai, sure, I'll be respectful…or at least, I won't punch her face. I might tolerate you too if you're like Eli-senpai."

"Huh-what? Why would you tolerate Eli but not me?"

"Well, she has her responsibilities and I began to understand her... a bit…"

"I have responsibilities too, ok? My responsibilities is to stay as your eye candy." Niko said.

"I'd spit now if I could." Maki replied.

"Sheesh! Maki!" Niko said it with tempered anger in her voice.

"I mean…" she suddenly calmed down.

"There-there, Maki-chan, aren't you a little rude for a princess?" Niko said using her sweetest tone.

"Bweh!" Maki spat to the air.

"Bye!" she quickly stood up and headed to where Rin and Hanayo were sitting. Their Digimon decided to sit around them since they got themselves a lot of snacks to eat.

"Oii! Don't just leave like that you imbecile!" as Niko was about to catch up with her, she saw an unusual sight, the Bluenette sat alone in the back row. There's nobody else there other than her Penguinmon and her face showed gloom while her eyes revealed her broken heart.

"Hmm…" she mumbled as she thought deeply.

"Well, I guess I'd get her so that she can enjoy her friend's battle when her next turn comes."

* * *

 **Ok, See you next chapter!**


	10. Ch10: Living in Another Rules

**Ok! Sorry for the long delay! I've been busy with my works and LightRiver33 too!**

 **Thanks to her though, she is still editing!**

 **Like I said, I will never abandon a fan fiction! So yup! I'm still working on it but in a slower pace since i don't have that much time to write like when I was in University lol. Thank you for your enthusiasm/fave/comment/follows!**

* * *

The battle rages on…

This time, the battle is between two similar-looking Digimon: a green goblin-like Digimon versus a blue one who really looked alike save for their different attires. The battle itself looks very boring and some contestants have even begun falling asleep.

As for Honoka, she seems wide awake as she chatted with her supporting friend, along with her bird Digimon.

"Hehe, then-then, Ichigo hit him so hard! Then he goes like 'Pepper Breaaath'!"

"Yep! I saw that! That was cool!" Kotori said with a happy smile.

"Ohh! Right! You were here!" Honoka said with a cheerful giggle.

"Hehe, you better prepare yourself for the next round. If you win, you'll be able to get into the final round! It will be easy if you have been managing your stamina properly!" Kotori said.

"I'm sure I am! Right, Ichigo?" Honoka turned to her Agumon.

"Yep! Nom-nom-nom…" Agumon replied while eating his meal.

"You have to manage your food too, Ichigo. Being too full will make you uncomfortable at the wrong time!" Biyomon suggested.

"Ok! Don't worry! I'll be managing my food! Just a few more meat and I'm done!" Ichigo the Agumon said.

"By the way, Kotori-chan! Why don't you give your Biyomon a nickname?" Honoka asked.

"Uh…. Well… I'm not quite sure of what name I can give her…" Kotori's voice faded as she started to think.

"Maybe….. Suzaku?" Kotori said.

"Ahhh… the Vermillion Sparrow….! Wait…." Honoka took a moment to think.

"Your name Minami… means south…, right?"

"Yep!" Kotori replied cheerfully.

"Hehe! I get it! Then Biyomon is Suzaku now!" Honoka said cheerfully.

"Ok-Chun! I'm Suzaku now!" Biyomon replied cheerfully.

"I wonder if Umi-chan will name her Penguinmon too…" Honoka said.

"Hehe, we just need to ask!" Kotori said.

"Yep!"

"But not now, I feel like something is troubling her…" Kotori said.

"Oh…? Why?" Honoka asked.

"I don't know… she hasn't talk to me about anything. She was worried about you."

"Ehh? Tell her to not worry about me…" Honoka replied.

"Hehe, Honoka-chan, it's like you don't know her."

"Right, she will always worry!" Honoka said.

"But maybe it's not about you now…" Kotori said.

"Oh…."

"Maybe her problem is about something else? Hehe… I'll just wait for her to come to me. I'm sure she will when she is ready to do it." the Ash brunette continued with a soft giggle.

"Hehe, let's just approach her later, I'm curious too!" Honoka said.

"If you say so!" Kotori replied.

* * *

Somewhere around the back row…

Umi is still sulking in her mind and, although Penguinmon is next to her though, he seemed to not notice his tamer's emotion. Umi still seems to be deep in thought even as a little girl with black hair approached and sat right next to her.

"Oi…" Niko called her.

The bluenette didn't respond.

"Oi, Umi…!" Niko waved her hand right in front of her face, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Aaa-ah! N-Niko-senpai!" she exclaimed in her surprise.

"What's up with you, I've been staring at you for a very long time now…" Niko said.

"I'm… I'm fine!" Umi replied nervously.

"You can't lie to me. You just skipped our main reason for being here to sulk internally." Niko said to her clearly with her arms akimbo.

"I….I'm sorry…"

"Sorry? What for? I'm not the one you need to apologize to... You have to say sorry to yourself because you're letting your feelings be dragged down. Cheer up, girl, or at least say something about your problem and set it free."

After Niko said it, Umi nodded slightly, but then her eyes turned to her Penguinmon. Her Penguinmon nods as he understood what he needed to do. He gestured to Umi before he walked away—probably to where the others are.

She started with a heavy sigh. Her eyes were focused only on her digivice.

"I just searched about the card we used a while back…" she said.

Niko remained silent, waiting for her to continue as the bluenette smiled somewhat bitterly.

"…it said, it evolves one Digimon to what it will turn into in the future. Many players use that card to know how well they are raising their digimon."

"Yep, sounds about right." Niko replied

"You just need to change your style if you don't like Black Metal Garurumon." she continued.

"The problem is… I believe that my training has always gone perfectly well... If what I believe to be perfect will turn him into a Dark Digimon… then how else am I supposed to do it?" Umi replied.

"Huh? Well… getting a dark Digimon isn't that bad. I mean, look, what matter most is your feeling towards him, right? It doesn't matter what you get, just remember what Nozomi always says: if it isn't destiny, then it will never happen." Niko said.

"There must be a mistake that I have not seen. I need to figure it out." Umi replied.

"What? Come on, just embrace it. If you keep denying it, you'll be overwhelmed by your own denial. I'm talking from experience, you see? The first time I evolved Chibby through that card, he turned into a scary reaper-like Digimon. I don't even want to remember his name or to see him again!"

"Perhaps my training isn't hard enough. Does he need to be pumped in some part?" Umi said, her eyes aren't even looking at her senior.

"Oi! Are you listening to me?" Niko raised her eyebrows.

"I need to ask Eli-senpai. Maybe she knows where my Penguinmon is weak at…" Umi said.

"Huh? I rather hear you ask about how you should train your Digimon. But then, Eli is probably not the one you should ask. She was just lucky that her Digimon trait is supposed to be similar to hers. I would tell you to ask Nozomi but she is an even luckier bastard who doesn't even train her Digimon yet, somehow, they are strong and are fond of her."

"Would a duel do it…?" The bluenette continued.

"Gggah! You're not even listening to me now." Niko protested.

"Yes… of course. Eli-senpai knows a lot. Why didn't I do that long ago?" the bluenette continued before she stood up and began to walk away.

"Oi-oi! Are you going to leave me like that?! Where's your gratitude towards me?" Niko said loudly.

"Ah, right, Niko-senpai. Thank you!" Umi said very politely, her face seemed to already be more cheerful.

"O…Ok?" the senior is flustered instead. She wonders if she took what she just said too seriously, alas, she expected her to be more like how people usually treat her: Just ignore, nothing more.

"Now, that's quite an interesting character…" the little girl appreciated. Her eyes set back into the other juniors who have been chatting with their Digimon, including her Chibby.

"Hmm… perhaps it's not so bad hanging out with this bunch of girls? It's not like I'm the one who needs them though… they need me to guide their noob-ass…." she continued with a proud smile before she decided to move back to the juniors. After all, those three are her favorite juniors because of their innocence— and Maki is favored for something else.

* * *

The time passed.

Even though the Arena looks plain and quiet, the sound of tamers cheering for their own Digimon filled the whole arena. The battle is close to the end and Honoka's turn is coming up next. Ichigo the Agumon has finished his meal, Suzaku the Biyomon took her time with tidying up Ichigo's mess. She seemed to be having so much fun when doing it.

When the Arena countdown from ten started, Honoka and Kotori prepared to cheer for whoever the winner is. They know that the winner will have to fight them in the future. In Kotori's little mind, she hoped that the green goblin is the winner since that will be more advantageous for Ichigo. The name of the Green-goblin like Digimon is Goburimon and he is the said to be an original in his kind. He mostly attacks with physical power, earth technique or small fires and none of those Elements will be a problem for Ichigo. Worst case scenario is if the blue one called Ice Goburimon wins. Just like his name, he attacks with ice and water techniques which will be really bad for Ichigo despite his type advantage. Many also say that ice Goburimon attacks are pretty fast and an Agumon like Ichigo might have a problem with catching up.

"Gooo! Goburimon!" Kotori shouted.

"E-eh…?" Honoka turned around at her.

"Just win it, Goburimon! Go! Go!" Kotori shouted again.

Her voice was so loud that even the tamer of Goburimon heard it. He is somewhat very touched by her support.

"Alright, let's go, Goburimon! We can't disappoint a girl!" he shouted full of spirit.

"Understood!" the green goblin-like digimon replied.

The battle continued with 8 seconds left and the green Goblin-like Digimon raises his power.

"Ugraarrhhh!" he shouted before he slams the ground using all of his strength to cause a tremor. The Blue-goblin-like digimon got critically hits. He was about to get up and counter but the alarm roared.

The battle has ended. The result is calculated and Goburimon won the fight.

"Yaaaaaay!" Kotori cheered happily.

The goburimon tamer smiled arrogantly as he brushed his own hair, trying to act cool. Goburimon seems to be proud of his victory as well.

"Honoka-chan! You have all the advantage now!" Kotori said cheerfully—and a little too loudly.

"W-what the heck?" Goburimon tamer said in his disappointment. Now he knows why the Ash Brunette cheered for him.

"E-Eh? Really?" Honoka asked.

"Yep, Goburimon is virus! He doesn't have any advantage on Agumon from his element too!" Kotori replied.

"That's good! That means I get a better chance to win, right?" Honoka replied.

Goburimon's tamer sighed.

"These girls are savage…" he said before he and his Goburimon left the stage.

The next battle is about to start. It will be Honoka's turn to fight. It's not going to be against the green-goblin like Digimon, it should be versus another digimon.

"It's my turn!" Honoka said excitedly.

"Good-luck, Honoka-chan!" Kotori said.

"Let's go Ichigo!" Honoka said before she ran to the stage.

"Ok!" Ichigo said before he steps down from his seat. For some reason, he looks a little heavy on his stomach. Can he really fight?

The corridor to the audience seats…

"Hmmm…. so that's what you need me to do, huh?" the purplenette said with a mischievous smile.

"Are we getting what we want or are you going to make us do some favors?" Erena said through Nozomi's digivice.

"Certainly, some elements sound very intriguing but… I doubt we can work together without fees involved in our business."

"Fees?"

Lady and Angel could hear the conversation and they seem to be interested to know further about the plan their tamer has in her mind.

"Yep, we don't working forfree, you know."

"Ah, we certainly are the one who made the request here. We will fund your needs to—…"

"I don't need, money, I have got plenty for myself. I need three of you to pay with something else."

"Then, please tell us what we need to do to pay for your service."

"So we have a deal, huh?" Nozomi said.

"Depends, we need to know what this payment is first." Erena said.

"Well, it's no deal or deal. We both will be taking the risk of getting banned from the game, you know, so I wouldn't want you to escape from the debt and wash your hands from what you made us do."

"Uh, Anjuu… Tsubasa, how about—" Erena explained to her friends.

After a few minute of explanation, Nozomi could hear Tsubasa speaking loudly,

"Hah, then just wing it. We need their service. I'm sure the payment won't be impossible." Tsubasa said.

"I agree, we are friends, their request shouldn't be that ridiculous." Anjuu added

"Alright then, we're going to say yes." Erena said.

"Good—Harasho!" Nozomi said with a mischievous laughter at the end.

"Then, our deal is sealed. We will help you to achieve your goal while you help us achieve our goal."

"Nozomi-san… please tell us what this thing is that we need to do…" Erena said.

"It's not going to be impossible, don't worry. All we want you to do is to cause more digital shifts by wrecking whatever portal you can find."

"W-what? You want us to ruin this world even more?!" Erena exclaimed.

"Hmm…? I thought we had a deal…?" Nozomi said.

"There must be an explanation behind that, right Nozomi-chan?" Anjuu said.

"Of course, I can even tell you how to find portals and make it wider."

"Can you at least please explain to us first?" Erena said.

"It's related to what you are trying to make us do, don't worry." Nozomi said.

"Please give us more hints!" Erena said agitatedly.

"Erena, you're a little too stupid to figure it out." Tsubasa said.

"A-Are you intentionally trying to make me mad, Tsubasa?!"

"There-there, Erena-chan, I'll explain later." Anjuu said with a giggle.

* * *

The Arena;

Honoka and Agumon stood near the ring as they stared at their opponent: a dragon like digimon with green skin, red horns and a pair of small red wings.

Unfortunately for Ichigo the Agumon, this Digimon is Data type.

"H-Honoka-chan…. this Digimon is scary…" Ichigo said.

"Don't worry, Ichigo, just believe and we will win!" Honoka said.

"U… uhn! Ok! I believe that we will win!" Ichigo replied.

Both of the opponent digimon and his tamer didn't talk to each other and they looked rather stiffer than the rest of contestants.

"Go! Honoka-chan! Ichigo-chan!" Kotori cheered for them.

"Don't lose!" Maki shouted.

"Good-luck-nya!" Rin shouted.

"Go-go, Agumon!" Hanayo shouted.

For a moment, Agumon and Honoka took a deep breath, making sure that they are really ready for this battle. Her opponent didn't seem to make any movement and just stood still. That's really strange, but who cares.

The bell rang to signify the start of the battle and Ichigo ran in and adjusted his position. The other Digimon didn't make a move, though it seemed to be processing something in its mind. After a long while, she saw how her foe began to move slightly—a lizard head tilt.

Ichigo started his attack and a small fire breath reached the green dragon, though its response was not at all like how most living beings respond. The dragon remained silent, not a single move is formed even though Ichigo once again fire his flaming breath. He doesn't know if his attack makes any damage to this Digimon, but he knows he really at a disadvantage.

His foe began to move with a small step and a strange spark erupted on his moving foot. When it happened, the blonde realized that the occurrence is too familiar to her but she need to confirm the situation since she only saw the spark once.

The next step the dragon digimon took, the sparks appeared again and it looked so much like what happened back then. It was a huge digimon, from what she remembered. The sparks by his monstrous feet and the emotionless state of its face… some people think that it's normal to have an emotionless Digimon for some special effect when their size and features look diabolical enough, but do people also think the same for rookie Digimon—especially the dragon type similar to Agumon?

She knew that digimon very well. He is a Dracomon, a digimon that has two evolution types. She remembers well that he evolved into that one green dragon while also retaining the ability to evolve into the blue one. Both are called Coredramon and she fought that one Digimon during her champion tournament a long time ago.

How was the Dracomon she met?

Did he produce sparks?

No.

Was he emotionless?

No.

Does that mean he is the weird Dracomon?

No way. There were plenty of other Dracomon that she has seen and she thinks that they're not emotionless at all.

Something is wrong with this Dracomon!

Honoka needs to know!

But how?! They're now in an official battle. She can't interrupt them.

The Dracomon, once again, made his move. This time, he looks like he is about to breathe something out from his mouth. Ichigo the Agumon seems to be prepared to dodge or endure it.

Well, that's bad, right? If he decided to endure it, things may turn out the same as before.

"Dodge!" Eli shouted as she saw Dracomon shoot his first blast. Ichigo dodged it and tried to quickly make his counter. While he focused on the enemy, some of the tamers and audience members suddenly roared in panic.

"The Arena's shield!" they said.

Honoka turn her attention to the arena's shield. There's a small hole in it and it was probably caused by the Dracomon's attack. A strange substance remained on the wall close to the hole… she wasn't sure what those were, but it looked somewhat creepy.

Dracomon fired another shot and Agumon once again dodged it. The next attack reached the ground and another hole was created as it also turned the arena floor into a digital glitch.

"W-what the hell is that?!" one of the audience said.

"That Dracomon is bugged! Someone, please stop the fight!" the other said.

It seems that there were no officials on duty at that moment and the A.I. of the Arena Manager also didn't respond.

"Someone, call the official!" another audience member said.

As the audience began to run out of the place in panic, a very loud disastrous noise was heard from another hall.

"W-what's happening here?!" Maki said.

"I don't know! But it sounds bad-nya! Let's go somewhere else!" Rin said.

The noise from another hall began to get louder as Maki, Rin, Niko, Hanayo and their digimon stood from their seats.

"Let's go!" Niko said with a hint of panic in her voice.

They quickly ran from their seat to the hall's entrance, along with the rest of the audience.

Eli and her Renamon remained in their spot, currently trying to call someone to confirm the situation. She watched how Honoka still remained in place wondering what exactly happened as Ichigo continued to fight the strange Dracomon.

"Honoka-chan! Stop the fight! Let's get out of here!" Kotori shouted

Umi who has been quiet and flustered also remained in her place with her Penguinmon. She could see that there are some tamers who seems to have stayed in their seats and were staring strangely at the ash brunette and her Bird Digimon.

Something didn't feel right. The bluenette quickly decided to go down from the audience seats and head towards the ash brunette to warn her but, before she was able to do it, a sudden power blast hit so close to her and Penguinmon.

She turned to where the blast came from and saw a tamer with a strange, huge-brained, alien-like digimon riding an UFO standing there emotionless.

This is certainly is bad since she doesn't have any cards with her right now so she had to put aside the idea of evolving Penguinmon to fight this strong-looking creature. She quickly grabbed her digimon and began to run to the other side but she halted when she saw another tamer with a blue digimon that looked somewhat like an insect pod.

By the time she thought of going another way, the wall of the Arena hall broke, its debris scattered and disappeared as a few huge digimon came through it. The one that grabbed her attention so much is a metallic Sea Dragon-like Digimon— since it is basically the biggest Digimon there.

All of them were focused on the ginger girl and her Digimon. At that moment, a shade of Digimon snatched and flew off with Umi and her Digimon while dodging a few immediate attacks from behind.

Umi realized that she probably knew who snatched her. From the size of the hand and its dark color, she knew that this is a Lady Devimon but is she the same Lady Devimon she knows?

"Lady?" Umi called her.

"No time to speak, we're all under attack." she replied.

Then she turned to the other digimon who was also in mid-flight— the angelic one to be exact. She dropped something to Kotori then headed towards Honoka.

There's no one in the Digimon's arms, so where exactly is their tamer?

"Where's Nozomi-senpai?" Umi asked.

"Over here." a voice from the back of Lady Devimon said.

"Aaah!" Umi was surprised when she heard the voice.

"You don't have to act that surprised. I'm not that heavy, thank you!" Nozomi said.

"S-Sorry… but, what caused this invasion?" Umi asked politely.

"I'm not sure either. I was just about finished discussing something with A-rise when a few tamers who looked bugged suddenly began to attack us. Most of them have Data or Vaccine Digimon." Nozomi explained.

"Ah… I thought I saw virus one, it looked so evil." Umi said.

"Hmm? Virus? That's strange. Maybe they're trying to counter your digimon type. Do you happen to be raising a Data type Penguinmon?" Nozomi asked to confirm.

"Uh… are there any other Penguinmon types?"

"Yes, a vaccine one. I don't know why they're different too."

Nozomi said as they got closer to a specific blonde.

"Ericchi!" the purplenette called her out immediately the moment she sighted her.

"Nozomi, Umi, there you are." Eli said as she removed her digivice from her ears.

They landed near her and began to take in their surroundings. A few people, along with their trained digimon, were walking towards them like lifeless creatures.

"I knew you were trying to contact me. I tried to accept it but something obstructed the connection. That's why I decided to ignore your next call." Nozomi said.

"Is that so? I thought you accepted someone else's call."

"Yes, I was on call with a client but we didn't finish our conversation since the trouble began."

"I see. This is really troublesome, huh?" Eli said with a short sigh.

"There's something that I need to speak with you, Ericchi, and I hope you are willing to listen, Umi-chan."

Umi gave her attention to the purplenette.

"It's about us. We need to move on from our bonds." Nozomi continued.

"W-what do you mean, Nozomi? Did I do anything bad?" Eli protested.

"Y-yes, why do I have to listen to this lover's quarrel?" Umi protested.

"No-no, silly. I mean our status as Digimon Online players. We need to get ourselves free from it."

"Then who will fix the world?" Umi asked.

"We don't have to be an official player to raise our Digimon. This was a world of freedom for them before we came to ' _help_ ', right?" Nozomi replied.

"You think we will be able to do that? Wouldn't that make the official angry?" Eli asked.

"H-how do we even do that. I mean, I absolutely have no idea about this place. I'm still a beginner." Umi said.

"Well, the good news is: You don't have to get to know it anymore. The basics will be enough for you." Nozomi said.

"I-Is that so?"

"Alright, actually, I don't know. Let's take a look at it later." Nozomi said.

"Everyone…!" a familiar chirping voice was heard before a huge, gold armored, bird-like digimon snatched the three of them with incredible speed and broke out of the building.

None of them were able to see everything as well as the Ash brunette who was prepared with her goggles. As soon as they reached the outside of the building, they saw the chaos in the city and it is a lot more chaotic than when they came in.

"Angel-san! Can you see where the others are?" Kotori asked the angelic digimon who is flying with her and her huge bird-like digimon. The girls on flight used the time to wear their goggles while they wait for Angel to respond the Ash Brunette's question.

"Over there!" Angel pointed to Maki, Rin, Niko and Hanayo who seems to be surrounded by some strange looking tamers who all have their digimon evolved into their champion form.

Kotori nods and quickly instructs her digimon to dash to their location, snatched them, and threw them onto her Digimon's back with the rest of the girls.

Now that they were mid-flight, they observed below them and witnessed more challenges up ahead. Many bugged Digimon and their tamers were also overwhelmed in the air. They had to charge through and dodge some of the tamers who seemed to be trying to defend themselves as well.

' _What happened to this world?'_ they all thought.

* * *

The Real world.

The A-rise was still resting for the night until a weird noise sounded from outside their room. Erena was the first person who got up to take a little peek outside. She saw that a few tamers seemed to be busy with an incident that befell their fellow tamer.

It looked like a common injury until Erena noticed another detail from the victim…

"Ah!" she raised both of her eyebrows and quickly unlocked her door. It surprised Anjuu that Erena is making a move since it's unlikely for her to care about another enough to make her move at bed time. She also got up to catch up with Erena and left Tsubasa still deep in her slumber, along with her Black Agumon.

Anjuu took her time to observe the scene. She can see Erena seriously investigating the wound of the victim Digimon and his worried tamer.

"Anjuu-san!" one of the tamers called her.

"Yes? Is there anything I can help you with?" Anjuu replied.

"Ah, we aren't wrong with this." they said.

"What are you not wrong about?" Anjuu asked to confirm.

"We were attacked by another you."

"Another me?" Anjuu raised her voice in her surprise.

"Yes, we thought she was you, but then we noticed that something seemed off so we decided to be extra careful. We approached the other you and she wasn't responding and when we tried to scan her, and we found nothing but the word 'bugged' printed on your profile."

"Does that mean I got copied somehow?" Anjuu began to think.

"Most likely. We got her, though, after we sent a few virus S-Rank tamers to defeat her. Then afterwards, the other you disappeared and left this chip." The tamer handed her a small strange looking object that looked like a computer chip. Anjuu examined it carefully and noticed that it looked like a memory chip with some additional effect.

"Thank you, I will try to investigate this." Anjuu said.

"You're welcome, Anjuu-san. I'll take my leave to help the others. Someone spotted Tsubasa-san's copy as well. It's going to be really troublesome if we don't defeat her."

"Alright, make sure you wake up the real Tsubasa so that she can entertain herself." Anjuu replied before she waved to the tamers. She then took another look at the chip she just received. There's only one way to get to know this further and she believes that there's no other way for her to know more about this without her help.

She really needs to wake Tsubasa up for this urgent matter—or to wait for her to wake up until then since she doubts she can wake her up.

"Anjuu-saaan!" someone shouted in panic.

Anjuu, Erena, and the rest of tamers turned to the person.

"A copy of Erena-san has just been spawned inside the weapons room. Someone needs to defeat her real quick!"

"Anjuu, we should go." Erena said bravely.

"Yep, we really should." Anjuu agreed before the two returned to their rooms to pick up their Digimon and Digivice.

The Digital World.

The flight still went on for the µ's. They had to deal with a few tamers who tried to stop them from leaving the city area and the worst part is that some of the tamers were too difficult to deal with that they needed to use some tricks using the card stocks that Nozomi and Eli had.

"This is really troublesome-nya." Rin commented.

"I have to say, these tamers are tough." Maki responded.

"Bad news, I think Suzaku won't be able to last much longer." Kotori said.

"Suzaku…? Is that your nickname for your Biyomon?" Umi asked.

"Yep, hehe… you should give your Penguinmon a nickname too, Umi-chan!" Kotori said.

Umi remained silent as she looked at her Penguinmon. He looked as cute as before but Umi was still bothered by something so much. He has not reached his real champion evolution although she already saw his mega form from the card power.

"Aah! By the way, Eli-senpai!" Kotori said to the blonde who had been inspecting her surroundings. Eli turned to her without a single word spoken.

"You were right, I should not have trained her with physical attack power. Now she turned into Eaglemon instead." Kotori said.

"At least Eaglemon can save us today. You're in luck." Eli said.

"Hehe. Well, I'll make sure to reset her status again in the future." Kotori said.

"Yes, you should, before you get yourself a Parrotmon." Eli said.

"Aah…! Looks like a tamer is aiming for us again!" Hanayo said as she spotted a flying devilish looking digimon.

"That's probably a virus Digimon! We can handle him, Kotori-chan!" Honoka said.

"Oi-oi! Are you listening? She can't waste her power again! We need to get out of this place as soon as possible!" Niko complained.

"Y-yeah, I'm really sorry, Honoka-chan!" Kotori said.

"Hngg… I don't think I can beat that digimon without being evolved too, Honoka-chan." Ichigo the Agumon said.

"Then, can I have a card too, Nozomi-senpai?" Honoka's eyes beamed at Nozomi.

"Sure. I think I have got some with me." Nozomi said as she searched through her belongings.

"Wait, we can't use any of the Agumon line evolution. They're too destructive. We might hurt innocent people in the city as well." Eli said.

"Ah, you're certainly right, Ericchi. We are above the city after all." Nozomi said.

"So that's why you've been asking me to do this, huh?" Niko said as she pointed to her Chibby the Piedmon who had been holding onto Eaglemon's leg, along with Maki's Dianamon on the other leg.

"You mean 'us'?" Maki said.

"Yeah, us. Why are you so worked up about being mentioned ?" Niko said.

"No, you little brained idiot. I was just reminding you to credit me." Maki replied.

"Y-Youu…!" Niko frowned at her.

"Now-now, let's not fight here, hehe… I think the weight is getting tougher for me to hold." Suzaku said.

Niko and Maki pout at each other before they turned away from each other.

"How long do you think you can last, Suzaku?" Eli asked.

"W-whoa! Eli-senpai is calling her by nickname!" Honoka whispered to Rin.

"Uh, about 10 minutes? That's if I don't bother to stop to deal with invaders." Suzaku replied.

"10 minutes, we can't get far enough from the city." Eli said.

"Our energy seems to be low too… we need to somehow find a way to use the time we have to reach safety." Nozomi said.

"Haah—if there's a way to stop the time or travel through it, we won't be in this much trouble." Maki commented.

Nozomi and Eli quickly looked at each other after Maki's remark.

"Nozomi, maybe this is the best time to use that card." Eli suggested.

Nozomi nodded before she, once again, began looking for something in her bag.

The rest of the girls seem to be wondering what exactly they're planning to do. The purplenette took out a very classy looking gold card with a strange image that looked like two souls being united together. The card says 'The Jogress Card'.

"Lady, Angel!" Nozomi called them. The two digimon, who were flying close to Suzaku to survey the situation, flew to the eye level of the tamers.

"Yes, Nozomi-chan?" they replied casually.

"It's time for us to act." Nozomi said.

"Just go on, we're with you." Lady said.

"Yep, we'll always be with you!" Angel added to her statement.

Honoka and Ichigo seem to be very interested about how Nozomi and her Digimon communicate. They can say that those three are very respectful to each other And, perhaps, this is what they need to do if they want to have a comfortable atmosphere surrounding them.

Nozomi started her card engine then waited for a few seconds before she used her card in style. It isn't that much exaggerated but still she looked really cool when using her card on her Digimons. The two Digimon began to fly faster and made spiral sparks of light as they flew faster than the giant golden bird.

Then a huge light shone so bright that it was fortunate that all the girls are wearing their goggles, else they might have been blinded like some of enemies who were getting closer to the golden bird. When the light dimmed, they saw a female-like digimon with angelic and demonic wings and, before they knew it, she flew towards them as she charged a powerful sphere and swiftly blasted it to the golden bird and the girls.

It happened so fast that no one really saw how it happened But, when they realize the light was enveloping them, they also realized that they may be going somewhere else by now.

* * *

After a while…

The girls opened their eyes and noticed that they're now inside their home in the digital world. That was such a thrill for them since some were worried that they were taken somewhere far from their time, just like how time traveling always is.

"Haah—we're in our own home. That was pretty scary to imagine if we're actually going somewhere far from our own time!" Honoka said.

"Yeah!" Kotori agreed.

"Actually, I think we're not exactly in our own time... Take a good look at our neighbors, would you?" Nozomi said.

Everyone turned their attention to their surroundings and that's when they realized that they're really somewhere else rather than the estate area. Instead of the other houses, they can see a few strange buildings in the distance and, instead of the path to the estate's office, they can see the strange looking grass field with a few vehicles stuck to the ground.

"Wh-where the hell are we?" Niko smirked at the sight.

"Could we be really somewhere far from our time?" Maki commented.

"Well, it was your idea to travel through time." Nozomi said.

"Huh? My idea?" Maki was flustered.

"Now-now, instead of sweating over the details, let's just investigate what we have in our schedule." Nozomi replied.

"W-what? Hey you haven't answered my question! How could that be my idea?!" Maki protested.

"I feel like I know where we might be. I've read some history of this place and some descriptions match with it." Eli said, ignoring the red haired girl's protest.

"So, where are we-nya?" Rin asked.

"The Digital World. That place with many buildings is called File City and the field over there, it used to be a forest, though it has changed into a railway station that was abandoned and turned back into a grass field." Eli explained.

"File City? I've heard that before… many say that the City of memory is just the upgraded version of File city." Kotori said.

"Exactly. But is it really the upgraded version? There are a few things that bother me in the historical data. I wanted to believe it yet…" Eli's voice drifted away. She sighed softly as if she regretted something.

"…maybe Tsubasa was right. But I can't really say. I need to get to the bottom of this." she continued.

"Speaking of Tsubasa, maybe I should invite her to join us, don't you think?" Nozomi suggested.

"I-inviting A-Rise?!" Hanayo exclaimed in her surprise.

"You can't be serious! They're important people… they can't possibly be here with us!" Niko said.

"Hnn… but, I think they would do anything to solve this problem—or, just to meet someone, right Honoka-chan?" Nozomi said teasingly as she winks to Honoka.

"Eh…? What? Who?" Honoka flustered.

"Lady, Angel, can you do that?" Nozomi asked her fused digimon.

"As a Mastemon, of course we can." she replied.

"Then, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and kidnap them for us." Nozomi said.

"It will take a while, so make sure you don't get yourself in trouble, ok?" Mastemon said.

"I got it, I got it. No problem." Nozomi replied before her digimon quickly disappeared.

The girls watched them in awe, again, because of the close bond between the Digimon and tamer.

"Wah, Nozomi-senpai, you are so close to Lady and Angel." Kotori appreciated.

"Hehe… they are always so kind to me." Nozomi replied.

"What's your secret, Nozomi-senpai?" Honoka asked.

"Hmm… my secret? Nothing, really. We have always-always been like that from the start." Nozomi replied.

"Hehe, Nozomi-senpai is a great tamer." Hanayo appreciated

"Yeah-nya!" Rin added.

"Hmmph, it's not like we're not that close with each other from the start." Maki said.

"Well, you certainly haven't gotten me a good nickname yet." Lunamon said.

"Huh? Why is that even related?" Maki complained.

"There, Maki-chan! Don't you feel much closer when you give your digimon a nickname?" Honoka said.

"It will be better if you give a nickname that your Digimon likes.. I'd like to have sirloin as my nickname but Ichigo is fine too." Agumon said.

"Hehe, I think Ichigo is a great name." Hanayo said.

"Really? You don't like Sirloin?" Agumon asked.

"Ehehe, I like all food but I wouldn't want anyone to mistake my name with it." Hanayo said.

"Ah, now that you mention it, you are right, I wouldn't want anyone to mistake me with my food."

"You are still a food name though." Niko said.

"Not really… Ichigo sounds like a hero character… you can simply write it as one-five or one-language too." Maki said.

"Hmm, certainly Ichigo for one language has a deep meaning, don't you think? Just look at the current crisis, we can always use a hero to unite us all and make a conclusion with one language—a language that everyone understands." Nozomi said.

"Wah—I never expect that it can go that way!" Honoka said.

"Hehe, you are a pretty lucky girl, Honoka-chan." Hanayo appreciated.

"So, are you going to give me a nickname, Maki?" Lunamon demanded.

"Huh? Well, what about Luna?" Maki said.

"That's lame. I thought you're so much more creative than that." Lunamon replied bluntly.

"Wh-what? Fine, then, I'll call you…hmm… Diana?"

"Even lamer, you are such a pooper." Lunamon said.

"W-what the hell? Then, give me some time, ok? I can't get your name right away." Maki said.

"I thought you've been thinking of it!" Lunamon pouts at her.

"Fine, I've been thinking of some, but I'm not sure. What about Polymnia?"

"Isn't that a Greek name? Its meaning is very musical and it's also the name of the dance muse?" Nozomi said.

"Yeah…" Maki said shyly.

"I'll take it, that sounds cool." Lunamon said.

"Polymnia…. Polymn-chan!" Rin said cheerfully.

"He-hey! Don't cut the name like that! It's Polymnia!" Lunamon protested.

"Hehe, Polymn-chan sounds cute though." Hanayo commented.

"Yep, I agree. It fits you so much, Lunamon." Kotori said.

"Huh? Alright then, I guess I have no choice but to accept that." Lunamon replied.

"What about you, Rin, Hanayo. I bet Lalamon and Gaomon wanted to have a nicknames too." Maki said.

"Hehe, of course, I've been thinking of Mary for Lalamon." Hanayo said.

"Ooh, that sounds like a cute name for her." Honoka commented.

"Yep, I like that already! Call me Mary!" Lalamon said somewhat cheerful and shyly.

"Gaomon will have Leon as his nickname-nya!" Rin said.

"Huh? Does your Gaomon evolve into a Leomon?" Niko asked.

"Yep-nya!"

"That's amazing! There are not many people who are able to evolve a Gaomon into a Leomon." Niko said.

"More like, people rarely want a Leomon. It's hard to raise him." Eli said.

"Eh, why-nya?" Rin asked.

"There are not many people who are able to understand his heart. Many said that it is a true warrior's will, but Leomon isn't a true warrior either. He is different and if someone want to raise him into what he is supposed to be, then that person truly needs to understand him." Eli said.

"Ehehe, well, I don't mind if he doesn't turn into what he is supposed to. He is my digimon and I'll take care of him however he is!" Rin said.

"Aye-aye! Who cares what I become... I'll always be with Rin-chan!" Gaomon said.

"hehe, I like that spirit, Rin-chan, Leon-chan!" Mary the Lalamon said.

"Now-now, what about you, Umi-chan?" Nozomi asked.

"M-me?" Umi was flustered.

"Yep, you." Nozomi said.

Umi remained silent as she look to her Penguinmon who had been standing there patiently, waiting to be named.

"I'm sorry… I'm not good at naming a digimon…" Umi said.

"Then, you want someone to name him for you?" Nozomi asked.

Umi remained silent again, she began to look around and totally sees Honoka is raising her hand but she believes that she is the worst choice of all, so she decided to look to her other friend.

"Yes…" Umi said surely as her eyes focused on her specific friend—the ash brunette who had been smiling gently at her.

"What about Yamato?" Kotori asked.

"Yamato?" Umi tilted her head slightly.

"Hehe, I have my reason but I don't want to tell you yet." Kotori said,

"Alright, then… Yamato it is." Umi nods.

"That's a good name. I know what it means but I'll let you know in your own way." Nozomi said.

"Thank you." Umi said.

"So what about you, Ericchi? Will you name your Renamon?" Nozomi asked her girlfriend.

Eli rolled her eyes.

"I knew it will come to this." she said with a sigh.

"Do you want me to name your Renamon then?" Nozomi asked teasingly.

"Go on, I don't care." Eli replied.

Renamon seems to be hurt by her words, yet she tried so hard to look tough.

"Well then, Renamon, I'll name you Sakuya." Nozomi said.

Eli quickly turned around.

"Nozomi! You know that I failed to raise a Sakuyamon before! You don't have to play—…!" Eli pauses.

Now that everyone knows that past of hers, she blushes madly and quickly turned her face away.

"Another secret revealed! Ericchi's biggest dream is to raise a Sakuyamon, yet she failed terribly and got a Kuzuhamon instead." Nozomi said with a giggle.

"I-is that true? She failed? I never expected that." Umi said.

"Yeah, I thought everything was smoothly done like how she wanted." Kotori said.

"Sakuyamon is one of the hardest Digimon to get and raise. Her ability is to strip every single buff from a Digimon, which makes her one of the most powerful Data digimon. With the right person, she will become a goddess, but with the wrong person, she will be a mere mage and nothing else than a support." Nozomi explained.

Renamon seemed to be very intrigued with the idea of becoming a Sakuyamon. She look towards her tamer and saw how she seems to be very embarrassed about what was revealed in the conversation.

"Then I shall be a Sakuyamon. Please train me to be one, Eli." Renamon said.

The blonde was about to respond but the purplenette made a remark before any word escaped from her lips.

"I believe Ericchi is very professional now and she will be able to raise any digimon into what they are supposed to be."

Eli closed her lips again.

"…and I believe Ericchi isn't going to throw away her chance to make her dreams come true." Nozomi continued.

The place became quiet and the atmosphere turned a little awkward.

"Why are we even bothering with this… shouldn't we all worry about where we are? Don't you want to know how we can get out of this place and return to where we belong?" Eli said after she had enough of the awkward stares from everyone around her.

"W-we are just filling our time while waiting for uh… Lady and Angel to return?" Hanayo replied.

"Yeah-nya. We're all here to wait." Rin said,

"What a waste of time, I'm off. Let's go, Sakuya." Eli said before she walked quickly to the exit of the housing area, along with her Renamon who seems to be confused when she heard her called by the nickname she received.

"Did she just call her Renamon with the nickname you gave?" Niko raised her eyebrow as she commented.

"Yep, you heard it right. She is truly someone who will do anything for her girlfriend." Nozomi replied teasingly.

"Whoa, girlfriends are scary." Honoka said.

"Well, I'd be happy if I have a girlfriend like Tsubasa." Niko said as she playfully shoved her elbow to the ginger girl.

"W-whaah! Tsubasa-san as a girlfriend… that surely a big dream." Hanayo said.

"Ehehe, I don't get it, why are we talking about her all of a sudden?" Honoka replied. There was a hint of her faked expression in her voice, though it was not too obvious to anyone who was not sharp enough to notice it.

"Did you just try to hide it? I swear you are so strangely close to her! It's like your whole world is gone when she is not around!" Niko said.

"I-I don't understand, Niko-senpai!" Honoka retorted.

"Aren't you usually honest, Honoka-chan?" Nozomi asked teasingly.

"I honestly have no idea! I swear!" Honoka said as her eyes flicked to the left and a faint smirk was drawn on her face. The expression she just revealed her lie to the entire group and they now looked at her with curiosity reflected in their eyes.

"Honoka-chan, what are you hiding?" Kotori asked with her cute begging voice.

"N-Nothing! Really!" the ginger girl replied nervously.

"Hmmm… that's really suspicious, Honoka-chan. I'll testify some more if you keep lying." Niko said.

"I swear! I just met her recently! I don't even remember if I ever met her other than that time in front of UTX Highschool!"

"You met her in front of UTX Highschool? We always went there from time to time and have never seen her face to face!" Niko complained.

"Y-yeah! We always watch them from the screen but we never saw her face to face!" Hanayo agreed.

"Then I don't know! Please spare me!" Honoka replied again.

"D-don't worry, we're not trying to kill you or anything, we were just confirming… are you dating her?" Nozomi asked.

"Of course not!" Honoka said.

"Then you only have a crush on her?" Nozomi asked again.

"Maybe… but no way! I have never felt any kind of love other than my love for food!"

"You're such a boring person, Honoka! You should spice up your life… come join us in Idol Hell." Niko said.

"Idol hell?" Honoka tilts her head.

"I mean, hey now! You're an idol too! You should be researching about idols and freak out about it!" the little girl responded.

"Well, Nikocchi, I think I'll be only freaking out about one idol."

"Yeah—Blonde, a top Ballerina, tall, handsome yet beautiful at the same time, and blah-blah-blah, I don't care about you. Take your gay obsession away from my face. She isn't even an actual idol yet." Niko said bluntly to Nozomi.

"She would be, trust me." Nozomi said with a giggle.

"Anyway, so how long is Mastemon going to take? I think someone needs to look after Eli-senpai?" Kotori said as she kept her eyes on Eli who seemed to be walking towards File City.

"Don't worry about her. She is only a tamer, true, but she has the ability to protect herself even without her digimon… That's why she is sort of cocky, but please forgive her for that." Nozomi said.

"I'll follow her. I have something I need to discuss." Umi said.

"My, Umi-chan, are you going to ask about something? I might know the answer too." Nozomi replied.

"Thank you, but I think I prefer to hear it from her." The bluenette replied politely.

"If that's the case, then go on." Nozomi said.

Umi gestured to her and everyone else before she quickly walked away.

"Umi-chan…." Kotori gave her a concerned look.

Honoka seemed to be relieved that the topic focused on her is forgotten and she is now hoping that no one will bring it back up.

"I think I'm going to take a break, I'm very tired." Hanayo said.

"Me too-nya!" Rin said.

"I think I need a little fresh air. Lunamon and I are going to go out for a while." Maki said.

"Polymnia!" Lunamon pouts at her.

"Heh—fine, Polymnia… I need to get used to your nickname."

"You should!"

"I'm going with you, Maki-chan!" Honoka said—she is obviously trying to get away from the group and knows that Maki might be the only person who doesn't care about her scandal.

"I see. Then I'll just send mails to your digivice when Mastemon returns. Have fun everyone."

* * *

Outside.

Eli walked towards File City then stopped when she sees a Metallic snake-like digimon resting near a building, along with a few baby Digimon. Sakuya the Renamon has been following her—and was still confused about what exactly her tamer wanted now.

"If it's true about this rumor, then I might be willing to train you." Eli said.

"What rumor, Eli?" Renamon asked.

"Your link to my Digivice, it was a system that was created by the new order of Digital world. File city existed way back before the new order was born and they have their own system of Digimon and Digivice link… I know someone around this place is able to change the system."

"What makes that related to being willing to be trained by you or not?" Renamon asked.

"Firstly, because training someone I can't bond with is painful, so I thought that you have the same thoughts about me. I don't want you to push yourself too hard… if you hate me, you should leave."

"I don't hate you at all, Eli. I don't mind if you keep pushing me."

"You gave up back then. That's enough to prove that I'm no longer worthy to be a tamer. I'm just abusing you to do my command."

"Please, can we forget about that already? It was my fault, how could you feel like it was your fault?" Sakuya asked gently.

Eli rolled her eyes and she decided to continue moving deeper towards the city.

"Eli! Please. Hear me out." Renamon grabbed her hand.

"You are stubborn. I have no reason to speak with you again. Whatever you think, I want your link to my Digivice changed." the blonde replied.

"Do you really hate me that much?" Renamon asked. She knows that question might wound her, but she has no choice… she has to keep pushing to discuss this topic.

Eli remained silent and her eyes were averted from Sakuya.

"Yes." she replied coldly.

"It doesn't make sense… your reason just now is not selfish, yet you said something very selfish after. Also—you averted your eyes just now, so I know which one is the lie."

Eli sighed heavily.

"I really can't train you with the current system of digivice. I don't want you to bind yourself to me. I want you to be free, can't you just—….!"

"I don't care! I don't give a damn about what kind of bond I have with you! I want you to train me like how you trained your Kuzunoha. I want you to make me strong, that's it!" Renamon said loudly.

"You are not a toy for me! You are a digimon, Renamon! Being saved in a drive, being brought to a digital room, being attached with cards, being restored with items, it's too much of a game. I can't play with a real life."

"Are you just stupid? We are Digimon! We are living in a digital world and even if we are not associated with any digivice, we will still be affected by those things! You are not playing with us, you are working with us!"

"And you are, what? You want to die in my hand instead of dying by your own mistake? So that you can blame me?!"

"I will not blame you, never! No one is blaming you! Are you just feeling that much guilt to Kuzunoha until you feel like you will screw me up as well? Don't be ridiculous! It wasn't your fault from the start! Nozomi told me the same!"

"There are better tamers out there, Honoka perhaps? Or Maki? Umi might be a choice too, they might be starters but they are passionate!"

"What about you? I sensed so much passion in you too, that's why I chose you. Alas! You are not making any sense, Eli. From all those wounds you inflicted in me, all you wanted to say is that you are not a worthy tamer for me. You could've just told me about that guilt of yours and let me help you solve that."

"I just want you to hate me, that's all. I always knew you are stubborn, I have to do it that way or you won't agree."

"Even if you are going to kill me, I will never hate you! Never! I don't even care if someone told you that you're not worthy of that treatment from me! These are all because I know you truly care about me and you'll be wounded the most if I left." Renamon said loudly.

"Who on shattering earth gave you that ridiculous idea?!"

"Nozomi!" Renamon replied immediately.

Eli remained silent when she heard that name spoken.

"That's how you love her, right?" The fox digimon replied with gentler voice.

"I don't even know what she told you." Eli squinted.

"She told me that you keep your distance from everyone around you because you know you are a pain in the ass and it's pointless to hang out with you. You have never think anything good about yourself but the truth is that you have so many good things within yourself. Your thinking is complex and you hardly find yourself comfortable around someone else until you met her. After that, you become overly clingy towards her and also overly obsessed to make her comfortable and happy to be around you."

"That girl need to control her mouth sometimes…" Eli sighed.

"See? Even though she annoyed you repeatedly, you never hate her. You have the potential to become a loyal lover—or a passionate tamer in my case. Just wing it, Eli. Please, give me a chance to show you that you shall not fail to raise me. You don't have to be afraid and keep your distance anymore." Renamon replied gently again.

Eli is about to respond to her when an old man-like Digimon suddenly approached her.

"My-my, it's been a long time since I've seen a lively visitor to this quiet city." He said.

"Jijimon?" Eli said as she focused on the Old man-like Digimon.

"And you know my name too. That's odd, but at least you called me."

"Was there another visitor that was not lively?" Renamon asked.

"Yes-yes! It was long time ago… they are the bugged Digimon and the human soldiers! They were so quiet and it was scary… I'm glad that we have the power to push them off but, ever since then, there were no other visitors who came to this city anymore. Any idea of what happened?" Jijimon asked.

Eli and Renamon turned to each other, wondering what they should say to him. A few seconds after, a bluenette approached them.

"Eli!" Umi called her as she ran with her Penguinmon.

"I have something to—…" the bluenette paused when she saw the oldman-like Digimon.

* * *

Meanwhile…

The ginger haired girl and the red haired girl were walking towards the city as well, except they seemed to be taking their time. Ichigo and Polymnia aren't speaking to each other since they have never really been close to each other.

"Maki-chan, Maki-chan!" Honoka started a conversation cheerfully.

"What?" Maki replied with less-enthusiasm.

"When do you think is this?" the senior asked, still with her cheerful tone.

"No idea, but it's so strangely quiet here. It's like everyone is dead or something." Maki said with even lesser enthusiasm.

"Eeeh? Hnn… you are probably right. I doubt that though! There must be some people inside the File City!" Honoka said.

"Haah… the last thing I wanted to see is some primitive tribe trying to assault us. I'm a little too tired to fight."

"Then, why did you go out?" Honoka asked with her innocent voice.

"To get some fresh air. I'll be returning home as soon as I get a little closer to File City." Maki said.

"Booo—Maki-chan is boring! I want to try to going in to take a little look! Maybe Eli-senpai and Umi-chan are there too?"

"Well, those two, I feel like they won't even bother using Digimon." Maki smirked.

"Eh? How?"

"You are close friends with Umi-senpai, why are you asking me how? Don't you just know that she has this aura of a fighter around her? It's like, you go mess with her, and something really bad will happen."

"Then, what about Eli-senpai?"

"Didn't Nozomi-senpai say something about that before? I don't even know what the hell she is talking about but seeing how cocky she is, I'm very sure she is something else."

"Ooo, Maki-chan is cocky too, can Maki-chan fight like them too?" Honoka asked. Honoka didn't seem to mean any offense her with her question, but Maki can't help but smirk at the blunt question.

"I don't know, duh! But I'm pretty sure I can hit the shit out of someone." Maki said.

"Hehe, then we should go to the File City!" Honoka said.

"Huh? What—…!" Maki is about to say something but the ginger girl began to push her towards the city.

"Ho—H-Honoka-senpaiiii!"

"Go-Go-Go!" Honoka said cheerfully as she directed the red haired girl towards File City.

Lunamon and Agumon seemed to be flustered, though they both decided to run and catch up with them anyway.

* * *

The Real world;

Erena and Anjuu finished dealing with the troublesome copy of Erena and the additional invader that came with her in the Underground Stockroom.

"This is weird, she is fighting like me, but it feels like some things are missing." the maroon haired girl said.

"It feels like you a few years ago." Anjuu said.

"You noticed. That's sharp of you." Erena appreciated.

"The hit and everything else, it feels the same as Owryumon right after he won the Survival Cup." Lotosmon said.

"Could this copy be a back-up data created in that very tournament?" Owryumon asked.

"Now that you mention it… that might be true. Tsubasa's Rust Tyranomon should have the tank build by then, it will be very troublesome to take him down unless—…"

Before Erena finished her sentence, a very loud bang is heard from a distance.

"Looks like they can't take him down." Anjuu said.

Erena sighed.

"Here goes my card stock. I bet even my gold card will be burnt in this battle." she said.

"I think Tsubasa will be able to take down that thing easily… if she ever wakes up I mean." Anjuu said.

Then another loud bang is heard, this time, at a closer distance.

"Why are you so noisy?! This is too late for this kind of mess!" someone with a megaphone said.

"Oh, she is awake…" Anjuu said lightly.

Then third loud bang is heard.

"Wow, damn, that's a massive damage… I like you! Bring it on, baby!" Tsubasa shouted again with her megaphone.

Erena sighed heavily while Anjuu giggled at the response.

"Here I thought having Tsubasa is chaotic enough." the Maroon girl said.

"There-there, Erena. They won't be that messy." Anjuu pats her shoulder.

While the two are busy thinking about how things are going out there, a portal opened and both of their Digimon turn their attention to it.

"Anjuu!" Lotosmon warned her as she points toward the portal.

"Erena, something is coming!" Owryumon warned his tamer too.

Swiftly and without warning, Mastemon appeared with a ball of light in her arm and shot it towards them before both tamers and Digimon disappeared in instant. Then a portal opened again as Mastemon disappeared into it as well.

* * *

The File City;

Honoka and Maki traveled through the roads of the city and observed the busy Digimon who were trying to tidy up the whole city. It was like they are about to open some shops or something of the sort. Ichigo and Polymnia seemed interested in visiting some shops, though they believe that they have to be more patient about it. It's not a big city, but it surely looks safe and cozy.

"It's true-it's true! We got some visitors!" said a baby digimon to a digimon that looked like a male angel with three pairs of wings.

"Ssssh… Poyomon! Don't mention them, we will scare them." The Angel-like Digimon said.

Maki and Honoka turned to each other, wondering if they never got any visitor before them. Ignoring that statement, they didn't want to bother them with whatever preparations they were doing.

On the other side of the road, there's a restaurant that seemed to be currently being cleaned up by a few digimon. One of them looks like a human in blaze, the other one is a Biyomon—just like Kotori's Suzaku— a snake-like digimon and a bug-like Digimon. They were all working so hard to clean up the restaurant and, when their eyes met, they seemed to be agitated before a fairy-like Digimon with huge petals on her back came to approach them.

"S-Sorry! We're currently trying to prepare for our grand re-opening!" she said.

"Grand re-opening?" Honoka tilted her head slightly.

"Yep! Hehe, we have been closed for a very long time but now that we have some visitors here, we will open our restaurant again!" she said cheerfully.

"Oooh! Ok! I'll make sure to pay a visit!" Honoka said.

"Nggh…. Do I get any meat?" Ichigo asked.

"Of course!" The fairy-like Digimon said cheerfully.

"You seems nice, what are you?" Polymnia asked.

"I'm Lilamon!" the Fairy-like Digimon replied.

"My name is Polymnia! A Lunamon."

"I've never known about your digimon type! Hehe, you must be so rare." Lilamon said.

"Yup, and expensive and fabulous. Make sure you serve me the best food you have later, ok?" Lunamon said.

Maki sighed at her statement, though she didn't complain.

"Got it! Poly-chan!" Lilamon replied.

"Hehe, should we move on for now, Maki-chan?" Honoka asked.

"Sure, I don't want to spoil myself here." Maki said with her arrogant tone.

The two tamers and their Digimon continued to walk farther, towards the green forest. They don't know where they are truly going, though they seem to be confident with their steps.

Lilamon decided to let them go, assuming they should be able to survive in the jungle ahead and she decided to return to her restaurant to continue working.

* * *

Meanwhile in a small house.

It is a house that looks very simple and was filled with objects that are not always used by Digimon. Everyone called the place Jijimon's house and Eli and Umi were invited in to hear out about what exactly happened around here. Other than that, Eli still seemed determined to remove the bond she has with her Renamon while Umi is still flustered about what exactly she is hearing. All she wanted is to know why her Penguinmon doesn't evolve to what she expected when she used the card… she really needs to know and she tried to grasp anything that Eli discussed with Sakuya the Renamon and Jijimon.

"…ridiculous, you mean, the digivice system is even more dependent than the one I have?"

"Yes, only one digimon and you have to either raises and let your Digimon evolve into anything and spend your time in danger till it goes back to Digi-Egg, or in simpler sentence: kill your Digimon, but I don't recommend that. If you kill your Digimon, they will turn into a weakling and eventually disappear."

"Killing…? This is the thing that I'm trying to prevent! I don't want to kill another Digimon!" Eli said.

Renamon rolled her eyes, too tired to argue with the tamer about how Eli shouldn't think that badly about herself.

"If you truly care about us, then you should go ahead and train your digimon, whatever she is! But seriously, I've never ever heard about anyone like you. Every single person I met is happy with their Digimon, despite not getting exactly what they wished for. Do you truly think that we're some bunch of toys that you can change into what you wish for?" Jijimon said somewhat angrily.

"I told you, it's not like that!"

"You think you're not worthy to raise a Digimon then? Something as humble like that is fine, but your Digimon seems to not complaining about you at all. Have you heard what she wants from you?"

"I have and I decided that she is just stubborn." Eli said.

"You might be the most stubborn here. At this rate, you two will continue being stubborn towards each other and no one will win." Jijimon said.

"Exactly! I suppose we are done with this, Eli. Come on, stop wasting time and train me." Sakuya said.

"There you go. You can try hitting the gym once they're ready but in the mean time, why don't you travel around a bit? I have only explored a small part of this area, but I've never traveled farther than File city. Ask around and some digimon might have information for you." Jijimon said.

"But—…!" Eli was still trying to reason. Renamon sighed and, this time, she takes the initiative to grab Eli and take her out of the building quickly.

"Now what about you? What's your problem?" Jijimon asked.

"F-First of all…" Umi said somewhat nervously.

"It's not like I'm thinking of my digimon as a toy or anything, but…" her voice faded. Penguimon is staring at her quietly while Jijimon suspected something with how she started the conversation.

"….I just wonder what makes Penguinmon turn into something that I don't expect."

"It takes a while to learn and be bonded. A digimon bond isn't made of data but some mysterious objects that create the affection itself. That's why you have to experiment on your own and accept whatever result you have. Don't overwhelm yourselfbe fed with what you desire him to be, instead, but be careful in choosing what you action you may do with them."

Umi still can't grasp what those words means, exactly, though, maybe she knows something… Perhaps her passion in training her Penguinmon isn't enough?

Does that mean she will have to train him even harder? Is that really how it's supposed to be? She feels like she had thought of this before but her mind still unsure of it. She tried to reference Nozomi's closeness with her digimon and compared it with her closeness with Penguinmon. Nozomi mentioned that she and the two Digimon have always been like that since the start of their relationship. Does that mean that she has to keep it natural? How is it supposed to be?

"Sorry, I don't really get it." Umi said.

"Ah, you're thinking a little too much then. Just do it like however you wanted to raise him… whatever the result, that's your Digimon. Accept him." Jijimon said.

Umi nodded.

"Digimon are never chosen by their tamer and they are not the ones who choose either. They are simply born as the reflection of their tamer's personality. That's why you always find similarities between you and your Digimon. If you truly wanted to evolve them into something else that you wish them to be, then you have to change your way of training them." Jijimon continued to explain.

"But, if that's how it truly is, then, do you mean that I'm one with a dark heart?" the bluenette asked.

"What's wrong with that? I've seen a few tamers with Dark Digimon as a partner and they may be mischievous or mysterious but their hearts aren't evil."

"True, but… I'm not even someone like Niko-senpai or Nozomi-senpai."

"I don't even know Niko-senpai or Nozomi-senpai. You have to figure it out yourself." Jijimon said.

Umi nodded at his remark, somewhat disappointed.

"Oh, by the way… Your friend from before mentioned something about your digivice system. She said that you can't evolve your digimon to its champion form before winning a rookie championship tournament. Maybe that's what she meant about being 'too bound to the tamer's actions'. I have no idea where exactly this City of Memory is but the digivice will adjust itself according to their digital position. I don't have to maintain them to make changes. In other words, your Digimon will evolve and devolve according to the law of the digital world around them." Jijimon explained.

"I… I see…" Umi replied a little sadly.

"I'll send your friend the details of our system, I believe she will be able to grasp the system and explain to you. Why don't you go and meet up with her?" Jijimon asked.

Umi nodded again before she bowed politely and left along with her Penguinmon.

* * *

The Real World;

"Hah! That serves you!" A victorious girl said as she stood above her gigantic Digimon—a Rust Tyranomon.

"Tsubasa-san! That was amazing!" cheered a tamer as he saw the rest of tamers quickly search for anything that the Tsubasa copy may have dropped.

"Heh—that one girl is troublesome, huh? But I have to say, this battle was worth my shortened bedtime."

"For sure, Tsubasa-san! We can't do this without you!" the other tamer appreciated.

"I wonder if there's any digimon you can't beat, Tsubasa-san, you're like, vaccine buster despite being a virus digimon tamer." someone else said.

"Hah! Of course, I can defeat anything blocking my way!" Tsubasa said proudly.

By the time she lifted her head with pride, a light appeared on the sky, everyone can see it and they know that this isn't a good sign since Tsubasa was standing right below it.

Rust-Tyranomon prepared himself, ready to shoot whatever may appear from it. Though, when a majestic Digimon with black and white wings appeared, everyone's eyes opened wide.

"M-Mastemon!" said a tamer.

And swiftly, before Tsubasa and Rust Tyranomon could react, Mastemon casted a powerful blast to Tsubasa—which made her disappeared in front of everyone. Mastemon disappeared again through portals at that same time.

No one understood what happened and it even took a few minutes before they began to panic about the missing tamer.

* * *

The Digital World, µ's home;

Hanayo, Rin and Kotori, along with their digimon, are all asleep despite the daylight still brightly shining outside… it could not be helped since it had been a really long and tiring day for them. The transparent protective dome made the sky looks much more colorful yet relaxing. Nozomi, who is still waiting for her Digimon to return, is taking her time to gaze at it. Eventually, she gently began to sing a song…

 _If..._ _We never met, if I had never known you all.  
I can't even imagine it now_ _._

 _While fostering the fragments of all your dreams_ _  
_ _I found myself, at some point, growing just as passionate_ _  
_ _So that everyone's hopes will never dim_ _  
_ _I want to protect them, I want to keep on protecting them…_

Suddenly, another's voice was heard from inside her house.

 _I'm sure…_ _  
_ _We were destined to meet, even if our ways will eventually part_ _  
_ _The promise of today's brightness overflowed_

Nozomi lifted her head, surprised to hear that someone was able to continue her song. It's probably not Eli though… she knows her voice so well and it is nothing like this voice. Having no Digimon with her, Nozomi doubted her plan to check the person who's inside their house. She quickly glanced at her friends status in her Digivice—they were fast asleep and are probably too tired to fight—then her card stock—still plenty and should be enough to fight a difficult Digimon.

Now that her heart settled, she decides to enter the house and find the source of the voice. When she reacehdreached the living room, she saw someone politely sitting on the white sofa near the entrance. Her uniform tells Nozomi that she is one of the officials from City of Memory and a Lucemon sitting next to her reveals enough about the identity of this person but… who would've expected her to take off her mask?

She has a very beautiful romantic gaze, a glossy pink lips, light fair skin, wavy purple hair and eyes with different colors—or as many call it: incomplete Heterochromia Iridium. The green combined with light blue makes this person so much more beautiful than anyone else, though for some reason, she can see faint similarities between this person and herself: from the shape of lips, eye corners, cheek and nose. She wouldn't want to assume since she know that her face isn't that unique either and all she needed to know at that moment is:

"What are you doing here?" Nozomi asked.

"Sorry, I got a little too tired of waiting while you were all out so I waited for anyone to return. Turns out I got abandoned. Lucky that I heard that song… you have such a beautiful voice." The woman appreciated.

"So, what business you have with us and who are you exactly?" Nozomi asked.

The woman chuckled.

"Sorry for my rudeness. You can call me Heidr." She said.

Nozomi tried to process the name— it sounded like a name from Norse mythology.

"I'm here looking for my, hmm… best friend, Gullveig. I suppose someone among you may have met her before." Heidr said.

"Well, I know a Gullveig from a Norse Mythology, but Heidr and Gullveig are the same person." Nozomi replied.

"Hehe, we just look like the same person but are no exact look-alikes and the way we act are different. Even a reflection are the opposite of each other, right?" Heidr replied.

Nozomi smirked. She isn't sure if this person is trying to outwit her or is just trying to explain the truth.

"Anyway, I don't think I can get my business done if I keep talking to that specific person so… can you help me instead?" Heidr asked as she took out a USB and offered it to Nozomi.

The younger purplenette doubted, though it seems that she may want to hear this person story before deciding. Nozomi sat down on the available seat and sighed.

"Please…" she started.

"Tell me your story."

* * *

 **Ok, that's it for now! I have 1 Chapter in Editing progress so it may come up soon!**

 **Also, I hope you're still enjoying this FF! ^^**


	11. Ch11: Let's walk together!

**Ok, here we go with the next one. Thank you for the patience!**

 **Thanks for reviews/comment/faves/follows!**

 **Thanks to Lightriver33 for the edits!**

* * *

The lush forest near the file city;

Maki and Honoka are enjoying the breeze as they strolled heading closer to the South. Ichigo and Polymnia are also happily walking alongside them until they began to sense a presence. At first, they were alert about the presence though, for some reason, Ichigo and Polymnia felt that the aura is familiar.

When they reached the area where the aura is strongest, they saw a public toilet with closed door, a Salamon sitting near it and a familiar person standing nearby with a dragon-like digimon.

"Erena-san?" Honoka called her first.

"Ah, Honoka-san." Erena replied politely.

The ginger girl cheerfully ran towards her.

"You're finally here!" she said happily.

"Honoka-san, I'm glad to see you but, where are we… exactly?" Erena asked.

"I don't know! Hehe! Maybe in another time? Eli-senpai said we're next to File City!" Honoka replied.

"I doubt that. Our digivice shows that we did not travel to the past or future. This is the present." Erena said.

"This is the present? But how can you know?" Maki asked.

"The Digivice adjusts its setting to the Digital world around it, just like when you are in the depths of the Digital world. In the depths of the Digital world, your time is moving twice as fast and the Digimon evolution system is on a lock-evolution. The longer you stay there, the more chances for your Digimon to reincarnate to a digi-egg. " Erena explained.

"Huh? What? Lock evolution?" Maki raised her eyebrows.

"It means that you can't devolve them." another familiar voice said.

"Anjuu-san!" Honoka said as she turned to the gentle girl walking with her Lalamon.

"You mentioned File City, right? It means that we finally unlocked our mystery. This is the city that is said to be ' _lost_ ' or has been ' _upgraded_ ' into the City of Memory… they truly are lying." Anjuu said.

"I, I don't understand. Can anyone explain?" Honoka asked.

"The City of Memory, the officials always say that the city is built on top the liveliest city in the Digital World, the File City. They also said that they built it with an agreement made with Jijimon, the digimon that has always managed the city. We've been led to believe that, yet it seems that we truly are wrong to believe it." Erena explained.

"Back then, when we reached the depths of the Digital world, we met a strange figure who told us that we better return before we turned our digimon into digi-eggs. Yet we were blinded by the rumor that the key of the Digital World's mess lay in the innermost depths of the Digital world. Many S-Ranked players have tried to go there yet, the deeper we go, the faster our digimon turns into digi-egg. Plus, the haunting Digimon soul lingering around it tries so hard to annihilate us." Anjuu continued.

"Haunting Digimon soul…?" Honoka and Maki asked.

"Yep, just like Ghosts in our world. That place is like the graveyard or 'junkyard' in digital terms. All the data that were deleted in the digital world will go there and those may try to delete each other as well." Anjuu replied.

"Woah… the Digital world is surely very interesting!" Honoka said.

"Pretty neat for a human creation." Maki commented.

"Now-now, I wonder if Tsubasa is done with her business already. I hope the fight she went through isn't messing with her." Erena said.

"T-Tsubasa-chan is here?" Honoka asked a little nervously.

"Yep, of course she is. She just fought with Angel about who should use the nearby toilet and lost. Now she has to run and find another nearby toilet. She is heading to the swamp though, so I doubt she has actually found a toilet by now." Anjuu said as she glanced at the other Salamon who is patiently waiting for her twin near the toilet.

"She isn't as cool as what people think…" Maki smirked.

"Nope, she isn't. Trust me, she really is not the right person to describe ' _cool_ '. More like a jokester or something of that sort." Erena said.

"A-anyway! I think I have something to do!" Honoka suddenly said.

"Huh? Alright, we should go back, huh?" Maki asked.

"I'm fine on my own! Let's go, Ichigo!" Honoka said before she and Ichigo the Agumon ran away. They can see that Honoka is taking out her digivice as she moved away. They wondered what exactly she is planning to do though, since she seems to be happy, they can't complain about it.

* * *

The File City, Tournament Hall's gate;

Eli was taken to the Tournament Hall's gate by her own digimon, she seemed to be trying not to retort again, though her face doesn't show any signs of friendliness as she stood there. She has finished reading the mail that she received from Jijimon but she doesn't look intrigued by it at all.

"So, what does he say? How's the system?" Sakuya asked.

"Lock-evolution with life-span. That's all I can say to you." Eli replied.

"That means… I can't devolve before I reach my maximum evolution? Sounds interesting. How many days do I have?"

"Rookies Level are aged 1 to 5 days old, Champions Level are 6 to 9 days old or 12 at max, Ultimates are between 10 days old to 18 days old, then Mega has some wide varieties. Some Digimon's ages are frozen since they registered themselves in the role of File City, just like Jijimon." Eli explained.

"That's really short…" Sakuya remarked.

"You will reincarnate into a Digi-egg once you reach the deadline. By then, you will inherit the status in which the percentage is affected by my tamer-rank. The higher ranked I am, the higher the percentage is. Also, we can go higher than S-Rank." Eli continued.

"And how can we do that?" Sakuya asked.

"By winning high grade tournaments, collecting rare cards, digivolving into a high-tier Digimon, Hmm… why do ranks sound so easy to achieve?" Eli said.

"Should balance with the life-span I get. Let's hurry up to the training spot." Sakuya said eagerly.

"There is no training spot ready yet, silly."

"Then let's go outside." Sakuya said.

"Outside? You think you're strong enough to deal with the monsters out there?"

"I can fight a damned mega digimon, as long as you're going to support me. I can't do anything without you, Eli. So please, cooperate with me." Sakuya said.

Eli sighed.

"You are so stubborn." She said.

"You are stubborn too, Eli. Don't complain." Sakuya replied.

"Let's get this over with. I'm tired." Eli said.

"In that case, we can practice taking a break." Sakuya asked.

Eli was surprised to hear her Digimon make such a humorous statement. Had her girlfriend taught her that too?

"We've been going here and there non-stop. As much as I want you to train and acknowledge me, I don't want you to overwork yourself, so… that's why…" Sakuya blushed slightly as she turned her face away from her tamer.

"Let's just go home. Nozomi might be worried about us." Eli said gently.

"Understood." Sakuya the Renamon nodded before the blonde took out her digivice and teleported away with her Digimon.

* * *

The Swamp near the File City;

The Ginger girl enthusiastically walked through the damp swamp, despite Ichigo's complaints about how wet the place is for him. Soon, she reached a jumbo sized, colorful mushroom and she noticed a small toilet built near it. The door is closed and a familiar Digimon is waiting nearby.

"Isn't that….?!" Honoka pointed to the black lizard-like digimon.

"Black Agumon!" Ichigo said cheerfully.

Black Agumon recognized their voices and he cheerfully waved at them.

"Aaah! Honoka-chan! Agumon-chan!"

They ran to each other and exchanged a playful smile when they got closer.

"I have nickname now, Black Agumon!" Agumon said proudly.

"Yep, Tsubasa told me. You are Ichigo, right? A good nickname but I think I need to get used to it!" Black Agumon said.

"You should get a nickname too! I'll help you pick one!" Ichigo said.

"Sure, what should my name be?" Black Agumon asked.

"Sirloin…" Ichigo said.

"That's a food name! I wouldn't want to have similar name with food!"

"But Sirloin tastes good!" Ichigo replied.

"I know, but I don't want to have the same name!" Black Agumon replied.

"Then, Kuro sounds good?" Honoka asked.

"That name is too typical! Something else please! It can be related to black." Black Agumon requested.

"Hnng…. Sebastian?" Honoka tilts her head.

"Huh? Is that still a name related with the color black?" Black Agumon asked.

"Somewhat? I don't know why I came up with that name when I thought of Black." Honoka replied.

"hnng…. Alright. I just need to ask Tsubasa to officially name me with it." Black Agumon said.

"I accept!" Someone from inside the bathroom said.

"E-Eh? Is that you, Tsubasa-chan?!" Honoka asked.

"Yep! I need to go out now, but, can you… look away? Just for a bit?" Tsubasa asked.

"O-Ok?" Honoka replied as she turned around.

The ginger girl waited for a moment. She could hear the door open and close and the other girl's whisper asking for hand sanitizer from her digimon. It took a while for Tsubasa to clean her hand, but the wait was worth more than a thousand years for the ginger girl. To Honoka's surprise, Tsubasa suddenly hugged her from behind.

The warmth made her heart beat so quickly and she wondered if it's ok for her to have this—no, maybe she should wonder how she should react to the straightforward approach. She is so helpless right now and the conflicting feelings made her feel confused. Should she just give her smile and let anything escape her lips naturally?

Maybe she really should before it got worse.

"Aah! Tsubasa-chan! That surprised me!" Honoka said loudly. She kept herself within her embrace without any attempt to escape.

"I'm really happy to see you, Honoka!" Tsubasa said with an extremely cheerful tone.

"Me too!" the ginger girl replied, still overwhelmed with awkwardness. She just hoped that she can survive in this for a little bit longer. Lucky for her, though, Tsubasa released and turned her around to face her.

"You look awesome as always, Honoka!" Tsubasa said.

"You too, Tsubasa-chan!" Honoka replied.

This is truly awkward, but it can't be helped. What else she can say?

"How are you?" Tsubasa asked.

"I'm fine, thank you, and you?"

"I'm fine too, thank you!"

The two were quiet for a while, thinking of why they're having a textbook conversation.

"What were you up to?" Honoka tried to start a conversation.

"Just answered nature's call." Tsubasa replied.

That makes things even worse. Why did she ask the obvious?

"Uuuh…then, what are you going to do next?" Honoka asked, trying to make things less awkward.

"I don't know, let's take a walk?" Tsubasa replied.

"Around the swamp?" Honoka tried to confirm.

"Of course not, silly! Around File City, of course! Unless you enjoy walking around the dirty swamp and stepping on Digimon waste!" Tsubasa said.

"D-Digimon's waste?!" Honoka exclaimed.

"Yep, wild digimon waste. Some may care enough to use this public restroom, but some won't even bother to move from their spot and just let their waste litter around. I just stepped on one before!" Tsubasa replied proudly.

"T-That's disgusting…" Honoka smirked.

"Yep, it is! I cleaned my boots while I was inside. It surprisingly has the realistic stench." Tsubasa said.

"Really? I don't want to see it for real, but I suppose that's a very neat system!" Honoka said.

"This world is so realistic in a way, I wonder if it has any negative side effects for humans who stay here." Tsubasa said.

"Hehe, I only heard that we are digitized when we're inside the digital world, that's how we can use the teleporter and other facilities, including eating the food as well." Honoka replied.

"Yep, that's true, but it doesn't make sense that people could forget about their real body. I mean, we still age, right? This place can't be serving us immortality." Tsubasa said.

"Hnnn….now that you mention it, it does feel impossible to be immortal in this world. If that's the case, people probably want to stay here forever in their golden age." Honoka replied.

"Aahhh!" Honoka and Tsubasa raises their eyebrows.

"That's why people are conflicting! I get it now!" they said together.

"We still need to know if that kind of thing is true." Tsubasa said.

"Uhh…I wonder if Eli-senpai knows something." Honoka replied.

"Asking that person? Well, she wouldn't be the first person I would ask. She may look expert, but she is not that expert, really. She is still learning, so it's better to ask from me." Tsubasa said proudly.

"Then, how do you think it might be?" Honoka asked enthusiastically.

"Well, all I can tell you is that this Digital world runs in digital world hours, nothing like City of Memory and its surroundings. One hour in the real world equals one day in the digital world. So that's why we look like we never age. In fact, we just look like we are aging slower." Tsubasa said.

"Ahhh… I see, then we are still aging like usual?" Honoka asked.

"Yep! The good thing about being here is that we don't need that much rest. Four minutes nap will recover your stamina fully. After all, we're designed to follow only some part of the digital world's rule. I assume this to be human's work since it really benefits us." Tsubasa replied.

"That's very efficient!" Honoka appreciated.

"Exactly! With the Digimons' help, human beings will be able to advance into something better than the humans in the human world, so I assume that the one behind this plot is a human being!" Tsubasa said.

"Ooooh! That means, we're the evil ones here?"

"No-No-No! Not quite! Those humans are, we are not! We will be the heroes!"

"How?" Honoka asked.

"We will solve the mystery in the depths of the digital world!"

"Eeeehhh?! What exactly we need to solve?" Honoka asked.

"Hehe, since you are the one who asked, Honoka, I'll gladly tell you. Long ago, Erena, Anjuu, and I joined an expedition to the depths of the digital world. We were naïve, I admit. We thought that, if we are able to solve the mystery, we will get something great in the future—something really rare and maybe a worth a Nobel prize too."

"Hoooo…." Honoka responded in awe.

"But! We were wrong! The Digimon in there are so powerful, we can't win without using cards and items. We had to use the Mega digivolution from the beginning of the journey, with locked evolution and time that runs faster. I honestly don't believe that it was any faster for us, but we were very sure that the Digimon there are truly aging faster. Our digimon reverted into digi-eggs one by one. We don't know what source of power could help us and we were so close to the deepest part of the digital world… or so we thought." Tsubasa explained, full of emotion.

"Then we saw a light that led us all back into the entrance. We also saw a humanoid creature with huge wings and sparkling brilliant armor—not a Digimon, I'm sure! I scanned and my digivice gave me no record or information. It was so vague, but I felt it looked like a Lucemon in his Falldown Mode."

"Lucemon in his Falldown Mode?" Honoka wondered.

"Ah, right, let me explain. Some Digimon do not evolve into a different Digimon, instead, they change modes. This basically means they can change their mode in lock evolution areas, or so we believe."

"Hnng… what Digimon are those?" Honoka asked.

"Imperialdramon, Lucemon, Chronomon, and some other Digimon like them. It's very convenient, I say. Back then, we had someone with Imperialdramon, but his Digimon was still reverted to a digi-egg after a while. He managed to change modes from time to time though. If only we had someone with a Lucemon back then, we're pretty sure we could have saved time in the early stages." Tsubasa replied.

"That sounds great! We should ask the Lucemon tamer who came to visit us!"

"Huh? A Lucemon tamer came to visit you? I've never heard of any tamer who owns a Lucemon since that digimon isn't even registered as tame-able digimon, not yet! It's supposed to be in the next few updates."

"Well, she was an official!" Honoka said.

"An Official?! With a Lucemon? That might be illegal! Unless they were trying to promote Lucemon before launching their tame-able data." Tsubasa replied.

"That might be it! She has always been a kind woman to us!"

"Do you happen to know her name?"

"Uh…no? But she was kind so I'm sure she is kind!" Honoka replied.

"Is that so? Then, I believe your intuition, Honoka!"

"So, can we go to the city now?"

"Sure, Honoka! Let's go!"

The two walked off energetically through the swamp followed by their Digimon who have been chatting about nicknames and food.

* * *

Some distance away

The Bluenette wandered with her Penguinmon, Yamato, without finding a trace of the Blonde had gone off to. She was about to send a message through her Digivice, yet she isn't sure if it is polite to ask for a favor through text. With her current position, she believes that her senpai is still within the city. She stood next to a meat farm and a building that looked so close to a bird's house.

She carefully examined the building and read the name of the building written in Japanese letters. It says: Birdra's Transport. She wondered if the Digimon who is supposed to wait here is Birdramon, the one like Kotori's Digimon. Still unsure with her guess, she decided to find out by examining inside the Building. There's a small Digimon— a pink baby Digimon sitting calmly near a stick that looked like a Bird's holder stick. It was pretty big so she is sure that the size of the Digimon is nearly as big as Kotori's Birdramon.

"Aah! Welcome! I'm sorry that we are out of service right now. Birdramon hasn't returned here for a very long time." the baby Digimon said.

"Why?" Umi asked.

"I don't know. It's dangerous out there so I never go out to find out." The Digimon replied.

"Is there anything out there?" Umi asked.

"Plenty of wild Digimon. We cleaned the most dangerous ones around the city, but there are still some wild rookie Digimon going around. It might not be that dangerous for you, but they're still dangerous for me." The baby Digimon said.

"I see, but what kind of service does this place offer, exactly?"

"Birdramon used to take clients to where they wanted to go but, most of the time, she was only asked to send things from here to another place by other Digimon. It's a one way service so we don't accept clients outside this post." The Baby digimon explained.

"I see. Thank you, maybe I'll be back later." Umi said.

"Ok. Good luck and have fun." The baby Digimon said.

Umi and Yamato, walked out of the room in silence, then turning to the meat farm which currently tended by a plant Digimon. She has never seen this Digimon type before: A digimon with bright pink flower on its head and arms with long claws.

For a moment there, she was about to ignore it and go somewhere else, but…

"Ah! Welcome to the File City! Are you here to pick up your meat?" the Digimon asked nicely with female voice.

"M-My meat? I don't believe that I ordered any meat!" Umi said.

"What are you saying? Everyone receives a meat portion every day!" The Digimon replied before she took three giant pieces of meat and handed it to Umi.

"Enjoy. Please come back again tomorrow. If it's not enough, though, you can buy some here, but I don't have anything bigger than a Giant meat since some of my friends have been missing for a very long time."

"Thank you, and… your friends are missing too?" Umi asked while she placed the Giant meat into her bag.

"Yep, they were supposed to find seeds somewhere. We were really in need of more hands after a mess that happened in the File City long ago but, for some reason, they never returned." The Plant Digimon explained sadly.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Is there any way for me to help?"

"It's fine. A few Digimon have tried to help me out but they never returned too. But, maybe, instead of trying to find what was lost, do you happen to know anyone who has a passion for farming?"

"I might have." Umi replied as she recalled a specific junior.

"Great! Please introduce that person to me! I'd gladly accept the help!"

"I'll let you know." Umi nods before she gestured politely and walked away from the meat farm.

* * *

Back at the 's Home.

Nozomi listened to the woman's explanation about everything that she needed to know. The young purplenette is extremely interested with the concept explained by the older one. The first thing that she noticed is that the woman appears to know a lot about the Digital World. She even knows the system of places and even explained to her about the system that is used in the area.

Another thing about her is that her Lucemon appears to be the only prototype of Lucemon that is said to have been successfully tamed, but he doesn't seem to be willing to let anyone hold his data other than Heidr.

"So that's why the official announced that you are coming soon on the Tamed Digimon Evolution list." Nozomi tried to confirm.

"Yep, but they're putting their hopes up too much. I only obey her because we are similar." Lucemon said.

"Similar? In what context?" Nozomi asked.

"It's complicated. A person like you shouldn't think too much." Heidr said.

"Right, huh? Keeping that a mystery. I'll take that." Nozomi replied with a playful smile.

"Now-now, putting that aside, do we have a deal?" the woman asked.

"I'll consider it, ok? I actually talked to someone who asked for something similar. I need to talk to my girlfriend and we might have to discuss it first."

"Is your Ericchi around?" Heidr asked.

"Nope. She is away at—…" Nozomi paused,

"Wait! How did you know—oh… wait, you are an official and I kind of already called her in front of you a few times now." She continued.

"Sort of, how's her arm?"

"Arm? Huh? It's getting better… Wait-wait-wait! How did you know about that one too?"

"About what?"

"Her arm, I thought that we have never talked about that to anyone. I doubt she even show that wound to anyone too!"

"Something happened to her arm?" the older woman asked.

"You mentioned that yourself!"

"Well, I did, but since you are admitting it now, tell me what happened to her arm."

"You are impossible! But Alright, since you got that lucky guess, I'll tell you. Ever since she lost her Kuzuhamon, her arm somehow reacts to data. I don't know what kind of reaction it makes, but she always feels pain every time she gets too close to a device. That includes her digivice, that's why I kept her digivice from time to time. She never wants to talk about it nor tell anyone about this pain."

"Yet she is holding her own digivice right now, right?"

"She insist on doing that to throw everyone's suspicion away. She doesn't want to look like a loser who blames a device and she wants everyone to think that she just doesn't want to train a digimon she isn't fond of. That's truly one of her reasons though. Poor Renamon…"

"Well, moving on from one Digimon to another is painful, indeed. But sometime sacrifice is required to make a better result. That Renamon is 250% size, right? It could have been more than that."

"What do you mean?"

"The Digital World Official demanded a cap for a tamer Digimon's birth size which is 250%. It could've been more than that, but the official is always scared of having a tamer who could beat their official Digimon. The max size of their Digimon is 400% which is insane since it is a Machinedramon. That one Chaotic Digimon that is often used by that legendary Analogman."

"He is already winning in type. Sakuyamon can't possibly beat that thing alone." Nozomi commented.

"True, but that's not the only one. They're now building a Chronomon. The probability of its success is high. I've told you how they do it, but anyhow, that also means that you and your friends have to train as hard as possible before returning to that City."

"We know about that. Ericchi and I have guessed it."

"Good, then what about your leader?"

"Honoka-chan? Well, she is not the first person to talk to about plans. I'd expect her to wander off and play around with whoever she meets." Nozomi replied.

"It's rare to hear an Agumon trainer that playful since they are more likely to be naïve kids who train their Digimon too hard."

"Who do you think she will get as evolution?" Nozomi asked.

"I wouldn't know. Maybe that playful trait would do something. This is a big world with a huge variety of monsters. You won't be limited to the official Digimon List anymore."

"Ahh… so that also means that we can wander off with evolution, huh? Very nice. I wonder what everyone will get."

"Won't be that far with the official list. Maybe-…."

Before the older woman was able to finish, someone opened the door very quickly and took the purplenette's attention.

"Hanayo! Kotori!" she said before she turned her to where Nozomi is.

"Ah, Nozomi-senpai." She called. Nozomi remained in silent as she glanced to the guest who disappeared, along with her Lucemon.

"Umi-chan, what's up?" she replied.

"Where's Hanayo and Kotori?" The bluenette asked as Yamato followed her.

"They must be in their room, asleep. Any business?"

"Yes, Digimon in the city are in need of skilled hands. We may want to help them out."

"My, that's kind of you. But do we really want to stay here for a long time?" Nozomi asked teasingly.

"Do we?"

The purplenette giggled.

"We do, The File City is a very important city. We need to help around and find out more about the core of their problem. After all, Mastemon is the one who took us all here." She explained.

"You knew the answer, why would you ask me." Umi sighed.

"Now-now, I was just teasing you. If you keep being that serious, you'll be getting yourself a digimon that fits you."

Umi seem to be bothered with that statement. Either way though, she tried to ignore it and bowed politely to the purplenette before she headed off to where she needed to go. Her Penguinmon bowed as well before he ran to follow his tamer.

"Now-now, another Digimon not getting the love he needs. Someone needs to open their eyes about it."

A few seconds after her departure, a pair of Salamon came in to the room.

"Nozomi-chan! We're baccckk!" said one of the Salamon playfully before she run to her tamer.

"Ah! Angel!" Nozomi caught her Salamon and let her snuggle.

"Sheesh! Angel! You are always taking the first snuggle!" the other Salamon complained before she ran in and jumped to her tamer as well.

"There-there, it's not that different for the second snuggle." Their tamer said with a giggle.

"Excuse us, we're here to bother." A girl said as she came in with her Lalamon.

"Yes, Excuse us. We're here to ask why on earth we were taken here. A lot of Business needed to be accomplished in the real world." Another girl walked in with her Ryuudamon.

"That's a long and boring story. Can we skip that?" Nozomi replied.

"She is right, Erena, that's a boring story. We already know that we are near the File City. All we have to do is to take a rest now, then off we go to explore this File Island." Anjuu said.

"Without Tsubasa?"

"Ah—let her go with her dream girl, ok? Trust me, they won't be doing anything bad." Anjuu replied.

"Yup, what she said. Stop being a dad or I might form a Daddy Club with you, Umi-chan, and Ericchi as the members."

"W-what?" Erena smirked.

"Ooh, that's a good idea, Nozomi-san. Those guys need some punishment!"

"I'm not a guy!" Erena protested.

"That's what Ericchi said too—and probably what Umi-chan would say if we tell her that."

"But it's obvious that we are not guys!"

"You are making sense, Erena-chan, stop doing that." Anjuu said.

"I don't get it!"

"Now, you sounds like Maki-chan. Maybe we should add Maki-chan to the club too." Nozomi said.

"The one with red hair? Sure, she does look like a guy too. Except she might be the Prince-type guy." Anjuu replied.

"I'm so done with this! I'm taking my rest! Show me the guest room!" Erena said angrily.

"Now-now, you're so eager to hit the bed, daddy Erena. You need to make sure your wife is ready too." Nozomi said teasingly.

"I don't even have a wife! Damn it! I'm done! I'm really done!" Erena stormed away followed by Maki who walked in without saying a single word. Nozomi and Anjuu giggled to the reaction.

"Ah well, I guess I better wait for Umi-chan to go out, I'm curious about what she wanted from her friends." Nozomi said.

"Sure, I'll stay around the house to get to know them. Thanks for letting us in."

"Yep, next time though, tell me the time when you chatted me about _it_."

"Certainly. I'll remind myself to do that."

* * *

The File City;

Honoka and Tsubasa walked through the City together. This time, everyone in the city seems to be ready to serve the visitors.

"So, which one do you want to visit, Honoka?" Tsubasa asked with the friendliest smile she ever made.

"The Restaurant! I wonder if they're ready with their food!" Honoka said.

"Ohhh! The Restaurant sounds good! We should go there!" Tsubasa said cheerfully.

The two walked to the restaurant together and they found that the restaurant is open and a fairy-like digimon is waiting next to it.

"Aaaahh! Lilamon!" Tsubasa shouted.

"W-whoaa?! W-what's with that yell?" Lilamon recoiled.

"Oh, I thought you were her digimon. Sorry. You sound like a different Lilamon."

"Is that so?! Then call me Chef Lila! Also call everyone that works in this restaurant with similar nickname!"

"Alright!"

* * *

The two were invited in to the restaurant;

They were handed some menus and they began to search for desirable food. Both Black Agumon and Agumon also sat on a different table from their tamers. They are given the same menu and it seems that both of them are hyped up about the same type of food.

"Ichigo, do you want the T-Bone Steak?"

"I do!"

"Add that to the list!" Sebastian the Black Agumon said happily to the blazing man-like Digimon next to their table.

"What about Jumbo-Sirloin steak?"

"I do!"

"Add that to the list!"

The two went on with the food menu.

"Woah, they surely are into this." Honoka said.

"I'm sure they are but, put their needs aside, what about you, Honoka?" Tsubasa asked with bright sparks in her eyes.

"Uh…I think I'd like to try everything."

"Then, should we order one of each and share them?"

"Sure! That sounds fun!" Honoka said cheerfully.

"Ok! Let's do it!" Tsubasa replied cheerfully. Lilamon who had been floating next to them seems happy and she immediately wrote on her note.

"What about tdrinks?" Lilamon asked.

"Uh… Tsubasa-chan, what about drinks?" Honoka asked with her innocent eyes.

"All! We will share them too!" Tsubasa said happily.

"Alright!" Lilamon replied before she finally went away to the kitchen. The other Digimon waiting on Sebastian and Ichigo also finished listing their food orders.

"So, Honoka, how was the tournament?" Tsubasa asked.

"It was interrupted. I didn't get to finish it." Honoka replied.

"Hah! That's too bad! You could've owned them, I bet!"

"I don't know about that! But I'm sure that Umi-chan's training is too good! Hehe! She is the greatest trainer I know!"

"Ahhh! Is that so? Then I'd like to train with this Umi-chan later!"

"Yep! Hehe!"

* * *

The File City;

The Bluenette and her Digimon stood next to a gym, looking at the brochure that she just received from the Cactus-like Digimon who stood right in front of her now. Yamato seems to be very interested.

"Umi, do you want to train me here?" Yamato asked.

Umi turned to him and nodded,

"This is our best bet. They have expert tools."

"Do you think I'll evolve to what you want later?" Yamato asked.

Umi was surprised to hear the question. But, after a while, she nodded weakly.

"I'll do my best!" Yamato replied eagerly.

The two finally decided to enter the gym.

"How we will start it, Umi?" Yamato asked gently.

Umi seemed to doubt since she knows that there's still something that she needed to settle with him.

"Should we start from speed? Or perhaps, the Defense?" Yamato browsed through the room enthusiastically.

"Wait, Yamato!" Umi called him.

"What is it, Umi?" Yamato asked very gently and politely.

"Yamato, I hope I… didn't hurt you."

"What would hurt me?" Yamato asked—again, politely.

"By… complaining out loud about your evolution. It's still you, right? I feel… bad for… not accepting it."

"I'm taking that as just a warning. We are lucky that we received that warning."

"What do you mean?" his master tilted her head slightly.

"If we never knew what I will turn into, we will never know that we have been doing something wrong."

"But… until now, I don't know what we did wrong." Umi said.

"I don't know too, but we will figure out as we move on, right? We just need to keep practicing over and over until we get things right."

The bluenette smiled at him.

"You're right. With the system we have now, we will know our needs faster than being in the City of Memory."

"Yep, exactly. So train me as hard as you can and we can try to experiment with the digivolution factor. Maybe someone who is expert enough knows about it and we can try asking."

The bluenette nods.

"We should pay a visit to Kotori and Hanayo in the morning, other than for a daily meat portion, I think I'd like to receive advice from Kotori. Eli-senpai might be better but I doubt she would have enough time to tend to my training." She said.

"Got it! But, the sun is almost setting so, perhaps, we can train a bit then rest. We've been through a lot today and you haven't taken a single break, right?"

"That's true, but, I can go for some more and rest along with you, Yamato."

"Alright then. So, where we should start again?"

"Let's try the speed training device!" the bluenette pointed to the signboard that says _Speed and Brain Training Device._

"Understood!"

* * *

At the Meat Farm;

Hanayo, Kotori, Rin and Nozomi stood near the entrance. Umi explained to them about what happened in the city and what they need to do to help. Hanayo and Kotori agreed to do what they asked for, though Rin and Nozomi were still clueless about what they can do to contribute.

"So, you say, the File City lost a lot of Digimon that usually contribute to the society, huh?" Nozomi tried to confirm.

"Yep, a lot of them. We don't know where they go to, but I suspect the dark power! It has been messing up our city over and over!" Said Palmon, the flower Digimon who has been managing the farm.

"Why did no one conduct a search-nya?" Rin asked.

"Some of the powerful Digimon did, but they said that they can't find them anywhere. Only wild Digimon were found and nothing else." Palmon replied.

"Really? That's bad. If what I suspect happened to this whole island is right, then we might need to solve a bigger problem than just the missing Digimon."

"What exactly happened to the Island-nya?" Rin asked.

"Hehe, that's still a little secret of mine. I'd like to investigate it further." Nozomi said.

"So, you are going to investigate outside of the city-nya?" Rin asked.

"Yep, but don't worry. I have two digimon. They will take turns from time to time."

"So, you will return to the city from time to time too-nya?" Rin asked.

"Yep, I think I'll be going to wherever Ericchi is whenever I return, so I better find her and ask for her decision." Nozomi replied.

"Then, I'll be going around with Leon-chan too-nya!" Rin said cheerfully.

"W-Wait, Rin-chan, are you really going by yourself?" Hanayo asked.

"Hehe, don't worry, Kayo-chin! I'll be taking you somewhere if I find something interesting!"

"R-Really? Ok then."

"Hehe, I'll be taking you somewhere too, but I need to get to know my surroundings before accepting my job." Kotori said.

"Then, that settled, we all have our own part. Good luck everyone." Nozomi said before she headed inside of the farm to speak with her Digimon, Angel and Lady. The Two Digimon were hanging out with Suzaku, Leon, and Mary. All of them are in their Rookie form.

Kotori, Hanayo, Rin, and their Digimon watched Nozomi flip a coin and they can see both Angel and Lady cheered with the result.

"Yeah! I win!" Lady jumped in her victory.

"Yaaay! I losee!" Angel hopped cheerfully.

"So what's the losing one doing?" she asked with her innocent voice.

"Well, you need to find a job around this city. Tell me when you get one, ok?" Nozomi said.

"Ok! I'll make sure to do that!" Angel nods cheerfully before she is ran off.

"And the winning one …?" Lady asked her tamer.

"You come with me. I need to go on a little adventure."

"Nice, more fight. I love that." Lady said before she and her tamer went away from the farm.

"Hehe, I think they don't even need to flip a coin to decide." Hanayo said.

"Maybe it's much more fun that way-nya!" Rin commented.

"Ahaha, or maybe Angel isn't someone to feel sad. I don't think there's anything that can make her feel sad." Kotori said.

"Speaking of a cheerful girl. I wonder where Honoka-senpai is. It's kind of a little quiet without her being around." Hanayo said.

"Hehe, Kayo-chan, you should start to call us without using 'senpai', it began to feel inconvenient after a while."

"E-Eeh? I-is that ok?" Hanayo asked shyly.

"Yup, hehe, Nozomi-senpai— I mean… Nozomi-chan told me that I should do that and to tell the others as well."

"When did she tell us about that-nya?"

"I was chatting with her through our digivice and the conversation happened long ago, but she said that I should take it easy and start the conversation when the time is right."

"So it's fine to call you… Kotori-chan?" Hanayo asked shyly.

"Yup! Certainly! Please take care of me, Kayo-chan!"

"Ok! Then I'll try to remember to call you as Kotori-chan!" Hanayo replied cheerfully with the brightest smile she ever made.

"I'll tell Honoka-chan and Umi-chan about it. Then, as for Niko-senpai… I mean Niko-chan, she agreed to this before. As for Eli-senpai, I mean… Eli-chan, Nozomi said that she wouldn't care about how we call her, so… we might as well call her without 'senpai' since we already call the others without it."

"Ok-nya! Let's get along!"

* * *

Meanwhile in the restaurant;

"Uwaaah! They're all amazing!" Honoka appreciated.

"I agree, Honoka! All the food taste so great! Who would've thought it can be better than food from real world?" Tsubasa replied excitedly.

"Hehe! Surely! Now, let's pay the bill and go somewhere else!" Honoka said.

"Oh-oh! Let me do that!" Tsubasa quickly stood up and run to the cashier.

Honoka sitting quietly, staring at her with a red blush on her cheek. She has never seen anyone willingly doing a favor for her. Honoka can see that the number that showed on the cash register has more than six digits, though Tsubasa quickly covered the number with her hand and waved at her playfully—trying so hard to distract her.

Is she…

 _Someone who wanted to embrace you, someone who wanted to be with you and spend their life time for you, someone who cares about you more than they care about themselves, someone who wanted to make you smile and someone who wanted to protect you at all cost?_

Maybe her senior was right. Someone like that existed and she just needs to realize their existence. Honoka doesn't want to put her hopes that far up, though. Despite always having been someone who strive for something impossible, this matter is different and she doesn't want to let her confidence ruin it.

Does she truly have a crush on this person—who is now making some flirty yet silly faces at her as she paid through her digivice? It's a little too complex for her, she really doesn't want to think again, so instead of spacing out about it, Honoka replied with some silly faces as well—even though she has no idea why she is doing that.

"Hnng… Honoka-chan…" Ichigo said as he pulled Honoka's sleeve.

"Eh? What's wrong, Ichigo?" Honoka snapped out of her playful face banter with Tsubasa.

"I need… t-toilet…" Ichigo said as he held his own butt.

"W-whoaa! I don't know where the toilet is!"

"Y-You need toilet? Then you can use the one in Tournament Hall or the one south of Jijimon's house! But I suggest you to get the tournament hall one because it's so much cleaner than the one at south of Jijimon's house!" Chef Lila said.

"Got it!"

"Quick! Don't be late!" Tsubasa encouraged.

"O-Ok!" Honoka said before she and Ichigo ran out of the restaurant.

* * *

The Tournament Hall;

While Sakuya is training by herself in the gym, Eli was busy looking at a device called "Digi-Bank." She has never seen anything like this before, not even at the S-Rank special device list. She only knows that there is a Data-Bank in the official quarter, but, does it work in the same way?

She wouldn't want to guess too far from the truth, but it will be amazing if it happens to work like how it's described in the instruction.

"Hello! Welcome!" A heavy voice is heard from nearby. Eli quickly turned to the source of the voice and figured that it came from a Dinosaur-like Digimon with yellow skin with blue stripes and brown armored head.

"Greymon, isn't it." Eli said.

"Ah, right, I am. You can call me Tourney Greymon to differentiate with the other Greymon. But, anyhow, are you interested in joining the tournament?"

"I sure do, but tell me, how does this device work, exactly?"

"All you need to do is to save your Digimon data, then this device will create their physical data for you to use in the tournament. The easiest way to do it is to bring your digimon here and use the Digimon scanner, that way, you don't have to search your Digivice's data."

Eli's eyes widen in a slight excitement when she heard the last sentence

"Does that mean I can use _any_ Digimon Data? I mean, I do have an information data but it can't be restored—as said by the official."

"Huh? All Digimon Data are recoverable as long as you have the exact information. The only thing you will never be able to recover is their personality data since it's still unknown how to keep such special data in a digivice."

"Is that so? Then, please teach me how to use that feature."

"Well, I wouldn't know since I'm not the technician, you might need to meet our Technician Andromon to get your answer, but then, he has been missing for the whole year! We don't have any technician who could help you."

"If that's the case, then allow me to be your technician. I'll investigate it on my own." Eli replied.

"I don't mind with that as long as you can do me a few favors before getting into your investigation. We have 40 floors and a lot of our devices are broken, fix them and I'll allow you to touch our Digi-Bank's system."

"I'll do that." Eli nods. Without Greymon and the blonde sensing it, Honoka and Ichigo ran behind them in a hurry.

"Good, I'll tell our staff about you then. Oh, some of our gym devices are also broken, there is—…"

Suddenly a very loud bang was heard from the gym. Eli and Tourney Greymon quickly ran towards the gym to check what happened,

"Sakuya!" Eli called her. There's a hint of worry in her voice.

Sakuya the Renamon was buried in a pile of wood and bombremnants . Apparently, she was trying to use the speed-training device.

"S-Sorry…" Sakuya coughed as she crawled out.

"Did a pile of bomb drop on you? That happened to the few last digimon who used it. That's why the training gym in the city is used more often. Usually, after that malfunction, the toilet will also—…."

"WHOAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" A very loud shout was heard before the toilet door opened and flooded the whole hall with Digimon waste and murky water and Honoka and Ichigo were covered with it. Eli smirked in disgust, yet she is also glad that the training area's floor is higher than the hallway.

"Uhh…looks like I'll be needing someone to clean up this mess too…" Tourney Greymon said.

Eli sighed heavily and facepalmed.

* * *

At the µ's home,

The night has fallen and the dark blue sky enveloped the upper side of the Digital world. Maki had stayed at home with Erena and Anjuu. Erena hasn't come out of the room while Anjuu is taking her nap on the sofa with her Lalamon.

Maki herself had taken about ten minutes of nap in her room that is heavily painted in red. She was awakened by the excited noise that her Lunamon made as she got mesmerized by the falling stars drawn beautifully on the sky and of the way her hands tapped on the window also made it so much obvious that she has some special feeling towards the sky.

"Hey…" Maki called her.

Polymnia the Lunamon jolted and quickly attempted to hide herself.

"There, you don't have to be that surprised, I'm your tamer." Maki said.

"Oh, it's only you! You could've told me!" Polym protested to her.

"Put that aside, do you like stargazing?" Maki asked.

Lunamon blushes madly when she heard the question.

"Yes…" she replied weakly.

"Me too." Maki replied with a plain expression. It's like there's nothing special about it, but the words she said tells the opposite. The red haired girl walked closer to her digimon and tood next to her as she leaned closer to the window.

"Which part of the sky do you like?" Maki asked gently.

At first, Polymnia doubted, though it's a rare chance for her to have someone asking about her hobby.

"I love everything about the starry sky!" Polymnia said proudly.

"Me too." Maki replied with her gentle smile.

"I'm really happy with what you did to my room back in the City of Memory. You placed a lot of decorations related to the stars." Polymnia said.

"I love those decorations too, that's why I bought you those." Maki replied—still with her gentle smile.

"We both have similar interests, I'm glad."

"We sure do…" Maki replied softly.

"I miss my room, can we go back soon?"

"I spoke to Eli about that before. She said she needs to implement a system that S-Ranked players have to fulfill that request."

"I see. Then we just need to wait, right?"

Then suddenly, a small hand appeared on the outside of the window. Maki and Polymnia the Lunamon screamed in fear and recoiled all the way back to the bed. It took a moment for them to realize that the hand is actually someone they knew.

"Niko…?" Maki and Polymnia smirked.

"Help…." The black haired girl outside said desperately.

* * *

At the restaurant;

Tsubasa and Sebastian waited for Honoka to return, it's been a few minutes now and that should've been long enough for someone to reach a toilet then return to the restaurant. Tsubasa decided to call Honoka's digivice, though before she dialed a number, an interesting event happened right in front of her. To be specific, it happened in the clinic in front of the restaurant.

"Excuseeee meeeee!" A cheerful Salamon shouted.

"Ahh—welcome to-…" A gentle male Angel-like Digimon paused as he looked at the Puppy-like Digimon.

"There, are you hurt? Or sick?" he asked gently.

"Nope, I'm here to look for job!" Salamon said.

"Then, I have one for you. I'm Doctor Angemon, the one in charge of the city's health. Your job is to…"

"Hello! I'm Angel!" The cheerful Salamon already walked to where Tsubasa is before Angemon was able to explain her job.

"Do you mind if I do a little examination?" she asked gently as she looked at Sebastian.

"Sure." Tsubasa replied.

Angel quickly approached Sebastian then begins to check on his condition from the soles of his feet up to his head.

"Hmmmm…." Angel paused for a moment to think.

"You are tired, why don't you take a break?" she said.

Tsubasa raised her eyebrow, wondering if what she said is right.

"Ehehe, I can go for a little bit more." Sebastian replied with a big smile.

"There, Sebastian! You should've said that you are tired!" Tsubasa said.

"But, Tsubasa is so excited to meet Honoka, I can't possibly let her lose her chance just because—…"

"Nonsense! Let's just go to the Tournament hall and check on her, then we will go take a rest." Tsubasa said.

"Ok!" Sebastian replied happily.

"Good! Then, as for you, Tsubasa-chan! Don't push him too much, ok? A digimon's stamina may be restored with food, but they still need to sleep! So make sure he is getting what he needs!"

"I understand! Thank you Angel, I'll go meet Honoka now!" Tsubasa said before she went away with Sebastian.

Angel smiled to the two, then she headed in to the restaurant without hesitation.

Angemon, who had been watching her work, was astonished by how fast she works, even though he knows that there's something important she needs to know about the job she is supposed to do.

* * *

Outside the city;

Nozomi and Lady have been wandering aimlessly in search of anything that would interest them. Looking as far as their eyes can see, they spot a few strange monument-like objects, though they have absolutely no idea what those are used for. They decided to just take a few pictures and note their details.

While they wandered around, they met a few aggressive Digimon that tried so hard to eliminate them, yet Lady would annihilate them before they can even touch her. She is used to fighting on her own, but…

"I did it! I did it! Woohoooo!" Lady cheered a she defeated a wild vaccine rookie Digimon.

"Yup, you did it, Lady." Nozomi appreciated.

"Yeah! Now, where's the healing for the best lady over here?" Lady said proudly.

"Here you go." Nozomi throw a recovery disk at her.

Lady seemed to be flustered when she received it.

"What's wrong? Was it not enough?" Nozomi asked.

Lady remained silent for a moment to think of what she missed.

"I feel something is missing…" Lady said in her gloom.

"And… what is that?" Nozomi asked.

Lady tried to think of what she missed again.

"Angel…" she whispered.

"Hmmm? Be a little louder please." Nozomi said.

"Angel, she isn't here to cheer for me…" Lady replied sadly.

"That's because she is working in the city right now." Nozomi replied.

"Ah… right. She is…" Lady sighed.

"Without her silly cheer, I feel like a part of me is missing…" she continued.

"You surely are inseparable with her, ever since the beginning of your life…" Nozomi replied.

Lady nodded.

"To be honest, though…" she said before she sat down and looked at her feet.

"I didn't like her. I was wishing for her to be gone for good." She continued.

"Now-now, I never knew that." Nozomi replied.

"At the time when I met you and Eli with her Kuzunoha, I just thought that if I follow you, I will certainly become a stronger Digimon and soon will be able to out-power her. I wished that you only picked me up, but… Angel had to be there and said out-loud that she wanted to join too. I didn't have the courage to protest since—I thought that I'll be getting a bad reputation and you will not pick me up…"

"You should be glad that you were a coward, else, you wouldn't be here right now. I don't like a hateful Digimon as much as I hate myself." Nozomi replied.

Lady raised her gaze to her and realized that it might truly be fate that brought them together.

"I'm joking, I would still pick you up and ignore your protests, just as much as I ignore that other me."

"The other, you…? Do humans have variety as well?"

"Nope, it just means that there are two thoughts inside me that fights against each other. It's like twins… just like you and Angel."

"I see." Lady nods a little embarrassedly.

"Let me tell you a story about a twin that became the stars." Nozomi started with a gentle smile.

Lady remained quiet to listen.

"Their names are Castor and Pollux, they shared the same mother, yet came from different fathers-…"

"Different fathers!? That's so wrong in so many level!" Lady exclaimed.

"I know, but that's the story. Anyway! Castor is a mortal while Pollux is an immortal, they—…."

"Did Castor die?! Then what did Pollux do?!" Lady asked eagerly.

"Well… If you would like to hear the whole story…."

"Ah—save it for later! Maybe Angel would like to hear it too! It sounds like an interesting story! We need to keep moving, then, we should be thinking of what I should bring back later."

"You are thinking of getting Angel a memento?"

"Yes, certainly. I need to find something shiny…"

"Something shiny? I never knew she likes shiny things… I thought her requests were always so random."

"She is random and she likes almost everything that is given to her, but she only loves shiny and beautiful things! I don't want to get her what she likes, I want to give her something that she loves!"

Nozomi giggled at her Digimon's remark.

"That's a nice spirit you have there, but it's not like we will be going around for a long time, we will return to the city from time to time, then you will have to swap with her from time to time as well." She said.

"There-there, that doesn't mean you can tell her to not to bring something special for someone she loves." A familiar voice heard from a distance.

"Heidr-san…?" Nozomi turned around to see a graceful woman walking along with her Lucemon.

"Are you lost, honey?" the older woman asked.

"Nope, I can go home anytime."

"I'm talking about what you seek in this far distance. I thought we agreed to search for something specific rather than looking for anything you can find." Heidr replied.

"Everything need to begin with the basics, doesn't it? That's why I'm searching through the island."

"It's useless, what we seek is within the File City itself. The rest of these islands are only mere repeatable areas where there can never be any victory to achieve. You might still be losing something though."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Items? There will never be an end to those wild monsters. They will re-appear like nothing happened. So, if you are out here, you better have another purpose than to clean up the population."

"Like farming, huh? It will be like an unlimited power source or—….!" Nozomi paused as she realized that she just said something crucial.

The older woman giggled.

"There you go, at least I hooked your thought into it."

Nozomi nodded.

"I see. If what you said was right, then I might as well bring the rest of the girls to try to maximize their training with these wild monsters. But, really, where do they truly come from? It feels so similar with the wild on the game we played."

"What if the 'game' isn't supposed to exist?"

"I don't understand, what do you mean that it isn't meant to exist? Are you trying to hint me about how the Digital World is created by a mysterious creator? Just like the real world?"

"Maybe? Why don't you figure it out with your friends? Wouldn't it be so much more fun if you do that?"

"True, I should talk with them." Nozomi replied.

"While you do that, I'll be going around to farm some power for my Lucemon. I'll meet you again when I'm ready."

"I'll be looking forward to that."

* * *

The Tournament Hall;

Eli has been working on fixing the gym's devices while Sakuya helped Honoka and Ichigo to clean up the mess that they made and they are still only finished half way. The Tourney Greymon is listing up items that need to be repaired.

"Haaa—why are we here now… I'm so tired…" Honoka said.

"Don't fall asleep, Honoka-chan! There are so many poo down there, if you fall asleep, you'll fall on top of it!" Ichigo said.

"It's a bad luck for you two to have to deal with this mess, but please stay a little longer, ok? I'll tell you when I feel like I can take care of it on my own…" Sakuya replied.

"Sakuya-chan! That makes me feel guilty!" Honoka said.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that." Sakuya replied.

"We will work harder, Sakuya-chan!" Honoka said energetically.

Behind her, Tsubasa and Sebastian arrived and found the mess that stained the whole place. She was all quiet until…

"Wow, did someone have a poo party?" Tsubasa asked as she reached close to the ginger girl's back.

"Whoaa!" Honoka was astonished by the familiar voice—she is so close to fall but Tsubasa quickly tried to hold her. Because the floor is too slippery, instead of being able to stand still to hold her, Tsubasa slipped and fell in the murky water along with Honoka.

"Gwaaah!"

"Ouch…" Sebastian and Ichigo cringed in disgust.

Sakuya sighed at them.

"Eewwww…." Tsubasa and Honoka said in disgust.

"You two will need a long bath after this…" Sakuya said.

"What are you even doing with this mess anyway? I thought you were just going to the toilet, not partying with these." Tsubasa asked.

"It's a long story, hehe, but my first reason to be here is because I wanted to help! I can't let Sakuya work on her own!" Honoka said.

"Aaah? Is that so? Then, I'll help too!" Tsubasa said cheerfully.

Sebastian was about to say something but decided to hold back and say,

"Me too! I'll help out!"

Then he cheerfully picked up the mop and bucket near the toilet's entrance. Tsubasa tried to find anything she can use and decided to pick the burlap hanging on the half wall inside the toilet. Tsubasa and Sebastian immediately started to work, which made Honoka somewhat very astonished and feeling even guiltier.

The ginger girl decided to work harder just so they can finish faster and get some rest together. It only took a few minutes for them to finally finish up. They just needed to dry off everything.

"Woaaah, that was so much faster! Thank you so much, Tsubasa-chan!" Honoka said cheerfully.

"That was nothing, ahaha!" Tsubasa replied proudly.

"Now, to dry these…" she continued as she turned to Sebastian.

"Do it like how we always do, got it!" Sebastian nodded happily before he ran to the middle of the room. Sakuya, Ichigo, and Honoka wondered how they exactly do it. They could see Sebastian charging a power, then Tsubasa signaled for them to move back farther.

Sebastian casted a powerful inferno around himself and, while it looked somewhat powerful, it also looked like it was done half-heartedly. No matter how he did it, it proved to be effective in drying the water stain instantly.

"Uwaaah! Tsubasa-chan! Sebastian! That was awesome!" Honoka appreciated them.

"Really nice, that finished everything so effectively." Sakuya appreciated as well while Ichigo cheerfully claps for them in the background.

"Now, since we finished with this, you two can go on and take some rest. I'll be going to help Eli." Sakuya said.

"You're off to help out again? Have you had any sleep? It looks so dark out there." Honoka asked with a hint of concern in her voice.

"Worry not, I did take a bit of my bed time. We got some rest before we decided to enter the Tournament Hall. Eli is such a hard worker; she wouldn't want to stop until she gets what she wants.

"And…what exactly does she want this time?" Tsubasa asked.

"I think the Tourney Greymon mentioned something about a Digi-bank being able to create a physical data from any form of data. My guess is that she wants to fight with her Kuzunoha again in this Tournament Hall." Sakuya said.

"Wow, she hasn't moved on? How troublesome. But at least now you know she will make such a faithful master once you have her heart." Tsubasa said.

"Eh..? Tsubasa-chan knows about Kuzunoha?" Honoka wondered.

"Of Course, she was so popular and we've been pretty much rivals in Digimon battles. I fought her once in an S-Ranked Tournament. A data Digimon that's able to crush my Virus Digimon, it was such a lesson to me. On the bright side, she made me realize that Digimon types don't matter when you're about to enter the S-Ranked battle. That's how I became a decent tamer myself." Tsubasa replied proudly.

"Ehehe, I only know a bit about her Kuzunoha from Nozomi-senpai's story. It was only a short story sent to my Digivice too." Honoka replied.

"Is that so? Then, don't you want to see her yourself?" Tsubasa said.

"Is that even possible?" Honoka asked.

"Oh, come on! Honoka! The Digibank will make it come true. I just need to insert a few data about my Digimon and she will do that as well, then, we will see. I'd like to battle her once more too."

"I can't wait to see that!"

"You can't wait? Then we can do that soon."

"But, Eli-senpai needs to finish repairing the devices in 40 floors to be able to do that."

"Don't worry, you should believe in my negotiating skills, Honoka."

"Negotiating skills?" Honoka tilt her head.

"Yep. I'll negotiate with Tourney Greymon, we should be able to fight by the day after tomorrow or tomorrow afternoon."

"Ok! Sounds good!" Honoka replied with a nod.

"Let's clean ourselves up and get some rest first, Honoka!" Tsubasa said cheerfully.

"Yup! Let's go-let's go!"

"Where can we take a bath tough?" Tsubasa wondered.

* * *

At the farm;

The night went on. Mary the Lalamon returned to her slumber after she and Hanayo planted the _meat seeds_ given by Palmon. Hanayo isn't new with the Digital World's farming system as she has always dealt with it. Rin and Leon the Gaomon may have never actually have the passion to do farming, but they have been helping out with what Hanayo does until now. They are also fast asleep next to Hanayo and Mary.

As for Kotori and Suzaku the Biyomon, she may not be taking hard tasks yet since Suzaku isn't ready, but she started to pick and deliver a few items from building to building in the city. It's a profitable job, but takes a lot of energy and details which, gladly, were easy enough for Kotori and Suzaku.

"Aaah, that's the last of it!" Kotori said as she sat down on the Birdra-transport's seat. Biyomon hopped on the branch and sighed heavily.

"That was so tiring, but it's very profitable so we can't complain." Biyomon said.

"You two did a good job for starters." The baby digimon said.

"Hehe, thank you, uh... Transport-Tokomon?"

"Yup, Transport-Tokomon!" he nods.

"Hehe!" Kotori smiled to his reaction.

"You should get some rest, there will be more people to serve tomorrow." Transport Tokomon said.

"Ok! Thank you for today!"

"No-no, thank you for your support today!" Transport Tokomon said cheerfully.

* * *

Jijimon's house;

"Uwaaah, thank you so much for letting us take a bath in your bathroom, Jijimon!" Honoka said as she dried her hair with the towel handed to her. Her old clothes are currently being cleaned so she has to wear another set of clothes that Kotori gave her. She is lucky that she has such a caring friend who gave her everything she needed for free.

Jijimon sighed at her—despite not having anything forbidden to see, Jijimon decided to look away from her.

"I'd like you all to clean my floor later, but I suppose you can skip today's cleaning job. The City Cleaning Service will come by soon, so they'll be doing that job for you. Next time tough, you need to take off your shoes if it's dirty." He said.

"Ehehe, I'm sorry-I'm sorry!"

"Then, as for resting place... You can use the Sofa right there, but wouldn't you prefer a bed? I think Angemon in the clinic can help you with that."

"Sleeping in the clinic? That's not good, sick people need them more than us."

"Then, the only choice for you is to sleep here, huh? But hey, the tamers who often came here sleep anywhere. It's like they don't even care if they have to sleep at the dirtiest swamp or the hottest cave, as long as their Digimon are there to protect them from the wild."

"Ohh… heart of a wanderer for sure!" Honoka commented.

"Truly, they are very capable of doing everything we need." Jijimon replied.

"Anyway Jijimon, why are you facing away?" Honoka asked.

"Huh? This? Because I thought that was what every girls want? I mean, they don't want me to look at them when they are taking a bath, right?"

"Uh…that's certainly right, but, I thought the bathroom has a door? No sane girl would take off their clothes in an open space, unless it's some kind of hot spring or something of that sort." Honoka said.

"Oh…ok, so, it's ok to look? You're not going to hit me?"

"Why would I want to hit you?" Honoka scratched her cheek.

"Hmm…I see…" Jijimon mumbled.

"Eh…?" Honoka tilt her head in her confusion.

"Then…" Jijimon turned around.

As he did that, Tsubasa came out of the bathroom with only towel wrapped around herself.

"Hono—AAAAAHHH!"

* * *

 **I'll see you next chapter ^^ , its close to ending~**


	12. Ch12: House Of?

**Sorry for the long delay! I have 3 chapters for this update! I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

The night passed.

Tsubasa, Honoka, Sebastian, and Ichigo woke up at noon and were now eating in a restaurant that appears to be open for 24 digi-hours. It's a new sight for them today since they can see a few digimon crowding the take-away counter while some were sitting on the seats around them.

"Woaah, the restaurant is crowded." Honoka said as she continued scanning the room.

"It surely is. Looks like the City Digimon missed the taste of this restaurant's food."

"Hehe, that's for sure! They're all delicious!" Honoka said cheerfully.

"Yep, I'm going to pay for you again, so don't worry about the bill!"

"Tsubasa-chan, I feel bad… you should let me pay next time!"

"That's fine, Honoka. As long as you're hanging out with me, I feel like you've paid enough for me." Tsubasa said.

"You're too kind, Tsubasa-chan! I mean, I've only met you a few times!"

"Then, why don't we move onto another step?" Tsubasa suggested boldly.

"Eh…?" Honoka was flustered.

"Honoka, listen… I've been in love with you." The short-haired girl said without any hint of shame.

Honoka was still flustered about what the other girl just said. The restaurant remained crowded while the two girls were quietly looking at each other. Ichigo and Sebastian, on the other hand, enjoyed their time as they chatted about Sirloin and other meat products.

"Hehe, I love you too, Tsubasa-chan! I mean, you've been so kind to me!" Honoka replied with friendly smile.

"No, no, not that kind of love, Honoka. I truly love you, just like how Eli loves Nozomi."

"Just like Eli-senpai and Nozomi-senpai…?" Honoka thought for a while before she finally understood what kind of love she is talking about,

"Do you love me like how they love each other too?" Tsubasa asked—again, without a hint of shame.

Honoka stayed silent. She does have an attraction towards her, but she is still unsure about it. She doesn't want to lie to herself and she doesn't want to lie to her either. Does she love her the same way?

"Hehe, can I… have like, a moment to think about it…?" Honoka asked.

Tsubasa looks a little disappointed.

"I mean! I don't want to lie to myself or to you! So, that's why, can you give me a moment to think?" Honoka asked again.

Tsubasa nods gently to her.

"That's fine with me. I'll be waiting for you, ok?"

"Ok! I promise I'll give you the answer as soon as possible!"

Right after Honoka said it, their food arrived carried by an Egg-like Digimon with shadow arms. The Digimon placed their orders gently on the table and summoned other stuff out of nowhere then left without speaking a single word

"Woaah! What Digimon is that?" Honoka asked innocently.

"That's Digitamamon. He is pretty mysterious, huh? His cooking is the best of all. It's like you can be strong by just eating a lot of it and you will never feel full when eating it."

"That's really mysterious…" The ginger girl commented.

"Hey, why don't we buy a lot of it and let Ichigo and Sebastian eat it?"

"Are you sure? You're still the one who will pay, right?"

"Heh, don't worry. I'm an S-Rank player and even though we're running out of money, we can earn it back in no time!" Tsubasa said.

"Really? That's awesome!"

"You should work on getting your rank up here since it's going to be so much easier to do that here."

"How can we rank-up here?"

"Well, I took this from Jijimon's house computer. We can get our rank up by collecting cards, winning tournaments, evolving our Digimon into a decent monster. It's very convenient, I say… "

"I see… why would collecting cards make us better tamers though?"

"Because cards are one of the easiest information sources. The more you collect, the more you know about the Digital world… or at least that's what cards in File Island do. I took his collection… do you want to see it?"

"W-wait, what? You took his collection?!"

"I'll put it back later. But hey now, he won't need it while he is in the clinic, right?"

"Tsubasa-chan, I think we shouldn't be too cruel to him. You already hit him so hard last night."

"Hehe, don't sweat over that detail, Honoka. Trust me, I will pay him for that."

"If you say so!"

"Now-now, when did we schedule the match again? Tomorrow's morning?"

"Uh, I'm not sure. Didn't Tourney Greymon say that he will consider it?"

"That must be depend on how Eli is doing with in first floor. There are plenty of devices that need repair, but he will probably be shocked anyway. Eli is a very decent technician… or a hacker in her case."

"A Hacker? What is a hacker?"

"A hacker is a person who is capable of accessing unauthorized data. I thought you've heard that before."

"hehe, actually, I did for a few times now, but I wasn't sure so I decided to ask."

"You never knew what hacking is? I'm surprised, knowing that I hacked into your account back then."

"It was you who registered me to Digimon Online?"

"Yep, I really wanted you to play with me."

"Ehehe… well, it's fun! Thanks so much, Tsubasa-chan!"

"No problem! Also, this is only between you and me, ok? Perhaps this will matter for your consideration. I fell in love with you in the first sight. It seems stupid but, really, I even lied to Erena and Anjuu since I don't want them to laugh at me for this. Anyway, I know you might not be the person I feel you are and I might be not the person you feel I am, but I really love you. I want us to be in a close relationship so that we can be open-minded with each other."

"What's wrong with love at first sight though?" Honoka asked innocently.

Tsubasa was surprised to hear the response. It's very unlikely for someone to reply with such an innocent answer, but then, that's why she loves her. The brunette giggled and smiled with the sincerest smile she ever made.

"Nope, nothing is wrong. But people tend to think that as something stupid."

"Hehe, I don't! Anyone can fall in love with anything at first sight, right?"

"That's for sure, Honoka!"

"Like, when you sighted a deliciously decorated food, you fall in love with it in the first time, then you have an urge to eat it and you just want to eat it without even knowing about how it tastes. It's not wrong to do that at all! There's nothing funny about it too!"

"You're right, Honoka! That's why I'll be waiting for you to tell me if it's ok for me to eat you!"

"Ehhh? Eat me? That's some way to put it!"

"I'm joking-I'm joking! Now, should we head to the Arena and check how our blonde friend is doing with the mechanical issues?"

"Sure! I can't wait to see you two in the arena!"

* * *

The Training Gym, File City;

Umi and her Penguinmon, Yamato, have been training since they woke up from their slumber. With the disciplined practice and perfectly paced tempo on each of their moves, they proved to be capable of doing their practice flawlessly.

By the time they are about to start their next round of practice, Kotori came in to the gym and called her cutely,

"Umi-chan!"

"Ah, Kotori!" Umi and Yamato turned around to see Kotori carrying a tray with a set meal while Suzaku the Biyomon held a bag of fish.

"Hehe, here's your breakfast. It's on me." she said as she and her Suzaku approached them.

"Really? That's really kind of you, but, is it ok for you?"

"Don't worry, I've made plenty of money myself. Also, the currency for this Digital world is Bits, if you want to, you can convert your yen to Bits by exchanging it with Nozomi-chan!"

"Nozomi-senpai exchanges them? Didn't she wander around with Rin?"

"Well, she certainly did, but she always returns by noon or midnight. We just need to pay attention to who worked in the clinic so we know when she will return. As for Rin-chan, she is only traveling around File City to gather seeds for Kayo-chan! She always returns at dusk to help Kayo-chan then sleep at night!"

"Ah, I see… I'm sorry, I should've been more help for you too…"

"No-no, Umi-chan, it's alright. I want you to focus on your practice. I know it's hard to raise a Digimon to become what we want."

"But…"

"Umi-chan! Listen, if you truly want to help me, then you should keep practicing until you get the digimon that you wanted. I don't know which one, but I'm rooting for you!"

"Kotori…" Umi called her softly.

"Just remember that, if you are true to yourself, then you will have a Digimon which is perfectly fit for you!" Kotori said with a sincere smile to her before she handed the meal to her.

"Thank you." The bluenette nods.

"What about your training, Suzaku?" Yamato asked as he accepted the bag of fish from Suzaku.

"Hehe, Kotori-chan didn't reset my status. She let me improve on the status that Eli-chan suggested instead... it's not the same status than before though. When we asked Eli-chan, she said that there's a different technique that we need to notice to get the desired evolution. I trust her to be professional in it." Suzaku replied.

"Why don't you practice like how you want to practice?" Yamato asked.

"We can't. We did that before and the result is not what we wanted. Not everyone can be true to himself or herself to get what he or she strives for. You might be that person too, but first, you need to figure out about how you did with yourself first." Suzaku replied.

While the two continue to chat about their training, their trainer continue to chat with each other.

"Yep, this is a good chance. We only need to spend a few hours to see what we get while getting ourselves some earning instead of purchasing some expensive cards!" Kotori said.

"Do you think we can all get what we want in one go?" Umi asked.

"Maybe? Hehe, this all depends on how long we want to stay here. I doubt we can stay too long though, I mean, you know… Honoka-chan isn't someone who waits for anything. Only a miracle can make her wait longer than ten minutes. Plus, she easily gets bored too. Once she knows everything here, I bet she would want to return home and we all will have to join in."

"You are right, that's certainly what Honoka will do." Umi sighed.

"That's why, please, practice and be true to yourself. Don't push yourself too hard and don't try to change yourself into someone else."

"Will do, thank you again, Kotori, I'll try my best to work on his evolution!"

* * *

The Farm Land, File City;

"Kayo-chin!" Rin cheerfully called her as she stood at the entrance of the farmland, waving at her energetically along with Leon who also waved to her and Mary the Lalamon.

"I'll be going now! Take care of yourself, ok?"

"Yup! Thank you so much, Rin-chan! Please take care of yourself too!" she said cheerfully.

Soon after the cat-like girl left with her Gaomon, Anjuu and her Lalamon approached them.

"Ah, that's really cute of you two, I'm jealous." She said as she played with her own hair tips.

"A-Anjuu-san?!" Hanayo recoiled as she see her.

"Anjuu-chan is fine with me. How have you been, Hanayo-chan?"

"I-I'm fine…" she replied nervously.

"There-there, I'm just a mere tamer like you so you don't have to be that nervous."

"S-Sorry." Hanayo nods. Anjuu giggled at her reaction,

"You don't have to apologize, silly girl. But anyway, I'm here to take my meat portion and buy some vegetables. I'll be going around to investigate too. I can't let that Nozomi do that on her own."

"What exactly is everyone looking for?" Hanayo asked.

"Hmm… well, this is just between you and me, ok? I tried to hack her info last night. I didn't make any changes to it since it will be too risky. There's a person that I found in her contact info and I doubt she is a good person since she is too mysterious, even for the official."

"Eh…? Mysterious person?"

"Yep, her name is, Heidr. She has no information stored in her digivice, yet she is able to own a Lucemon who is also unknown to the official. I suspect her to have a specific relationship with this… Absolute Destroyer, that thing that looks like a digimon but is not quite a digimon or human being."

"Wow, but, I thought Nozomi-chan is not a bad girl, maybe she is just a client? I heard she is a famous merchant?"

"Well, I'm her client too, but I wouldn't want to let my guard down. Nozomi-chan may have been a good girl but we don't know how passionate she is when it's about money."

"Uhm…I think Nozomi-chan also wouldn't want to care about that, she is lucky enough." Hanayo said.

"You're certainly right, but still, I'll have to hear about her relationship with the mysterious person from her own lips. Hopefully, she is cooperative enough."

"Hehe, I'm sure she will be very cooperative! Good luck!"

Anjuu giggled again to Hanayo's reaction.

"You're such a pure girl, it fits perfectly with your voice."

"E-Eeh?" Hanayo blushed madly.

"So, where's my portion now? Also, when can I buy your vegetables? Any discount for the compliment just now?"

"U—uuhh…. Anjuu-san! I… I mean, Anjuu-chan! Don't tease me like that!"

The Tournament hall, File City;

The Engines in the first floor are close to getting finished. Eli and Sakuya the Renamon worked hard to clean and make sure that everything is working perfectly.

"How is it, Sakuya?" Eli asked as she held a button on the lift control.

"Looks like the lift works fine now, but it still can't transport us to the tenth floor and above."

"I didn't connect the lift there yet. I'll do it once we can use the green barrier… the problem was when the green barrier appears, the lift transports the passenger to a random floor, right?"

"Yes."

"That's why we need to see how the green barrier works first, then we can decide what to do next."

"The Green barrier is Digi bank's feature. That means you're done with everything in this floor." Sakuya said as she looked at the list that Eli plastered on the wall near the lift.

Eli remained quiet. She knew that something felt off with Sakuya's statement.

"You can input Kuzunoha's data and create her physical data." Sakuya continued.

"I'm surprised that you didn't feel jealous." Eli said.

"Jealous? I do, but I'd like to see her in action just so I can set my target. Like I said, I'll train as hard as I can and you will be my trainer. I'm not her, so I won't aim for the same target, instead, I'll make sure that you see it with your own eyes that I am better than her."

"You're quite arrogant, aren't you?" The blonde girl crossed her arm.

"So are you. In all honesty, Eli, you are a lot more arrogant than me. Judging me as incapable of doing what you expect, it's like you're admitting that you are the most expensive tamer who ever existed. In fact, you are not someone like that. I bet the A-Rise are better than you." Sakuya said.

"Is that you trying to provoke me? Who taught you that… Nozomi?"

"Yes, she did teach me, but she was right anyway. I wouldn't have realized that without her."

Eli sighed heavily.

"That girl. I can't believe I'm her girlfriend."

"You deserve that, Eli." Sakuya said.

"I bet she taught you to say that too…"

"Just because you are so transparent."

"…and that too…." Eli sighed again.

"Don't complain, start doing what I want."

Once again, Eli sighed, she knows that it's another sentence that her girlfriend taught to her Digimon.

"Anyway, Sakuya. I will still summon her physical data and I will make sure that you watch how she fights. I don't want you to just drop your jaws and do nothing, feel free to ask why or how."

"So, you really will train me?" Sakuya asked—for some reason, her question just now spoken with a less cold tone than her previous statement, it's like she isn't staging her words.

"You don't need to keep asking about that. Also, I hope you know what you are saying. If you truly want to aim to be better than my Kuzunoha, then you have to work twice as hard. No more slacking, no more giving up in the middle of practice, do you understand?"

"Yes! Certainly, Eli! I will make sure of that!"

Eli sighed again.

"Oh, right, Nozomi told me, that if you truly going to fight with Kuzunoha today, she wants you to make this the last time that you talk about her. She really wants you to move on and start thinking about me."

"Then I will make sure that you see her greatness in high quality."

"Aren't you supposed to fight against Tsubasa today?"

"Yes, I can't believe she wanted a rematch, but I bet she didn't learn that much anyway. I can guarantee that I will win."

"I'll be watching." Sakuya said.

Soon after she said it, Tsubasa and Honoka approached them, with their Digimons trailing behind them.

"Ah, there you are, Eli-senpai!" Honoka said.

"You're a little too formal, Honoka, just call her Eli, she wouldn't mind." Tsubasa said.

"Really?" Honoka asked to Eli.

"I don't care about how you're going to call me, just make sure you know your position." Eli replied,

"Ok, then, Eli-chan!" Honoka said cheerfully.

"Haha, anyway, Miss Blonde, are we fighting soon? I can't wait to see how my practice goes." Tsubasa said proudly.

"Did you talk to Tourney Greymon yet?"

"I did and he said you can go to the Digi Bank now since most of engines are fixed nicely here, thanks to you." The short haired girl said still with pride drawn on her face.

"Harasho." Eli replied.

"But, he said, only the first floor digi bank is usable, you need to fix the rest of Digi bank on the other floors."

"I'll do that after our battle. I'm having fun salvaging and learning their systems and I don't want you to keep bugging me with a re-match while I do that." Eli replied.

"I hear you, Eli. Let's get the battle on, shall we?"

"Wait, Eli, you haven't eat anything since this morning." Sakuya said.

"I'll be fine. The match won't last longer than two minutes." Eli replied.

"Now-now, you're being over-confident." Tsubasa said.

"The time limit of the battle here is 120 seconds and you can't use cards too." Eli replied.

"W-wait, what?" Tsubasa raised her eyebrow in shock.

"Tsubasa-chan, you didn't know?" Honoka asked innocently.

It took a moment for Tsubasa to process what she should say since she didn't want to be too embarrassed in front of her ginger girl, yet she didn't want to admit that her practice involved cards usage and that she expected a longer battle time since she wants to fight against this professional tamer.

"A-Ahahaha! Of course I knew that!" she said, immediately decided to just wing it since she also remember that Honoka can't wait to see her fight.

"I slacked a little too much with my battle practice, damn it." Tsubasa whispered to herself.

"Don't worry, Tsubasa! I've got your back!" Sebastian whispered when he heard what Tsubasa said to herself.

"Ah, right, Sebastian, I'm going to use the old you this time." Tsubasa said.

"I know that, I'll be watching." Sebastian said,

"The old Sebastian? What do you mean, Tsubasa-chan?" Honoka asked.

"It's a long story, but I'll make sure to explain later!" Tsubasa said.

"Alright!"

"Let's not waste too much time, I have so much more to do up there." Eli said,

"Understood. Off we go then?"

* * *

The Clinic, File City;

Nozomi returned to the city to pick up Angel in the clinic so that she can travel outside with her while Lady replaced her on her job. As she entered the clinic, she spotted Angel taking care of Jijimon.

"You need to eat three times a day and eat enough veggies then you'll be fine in a week. Even though I've healed most of your wounds, you're still not capable of restoring your stamina as fast as a healthy person. Then, as I said, you're not sick because of your wound, you're sick because of your bad habit." Angel explained.

"Thank you, uh…what was your name again, Angel? It's rare for me to see a rookie digimon like you so skilled in the art of healing."

"Hehe, I have a best friend—or a twin sister! She taught me a lot about healing magic even though she can't heal anyone!"

"She can't heal but she can teach you? That's weird." Angemon who had been sitting away from them said. He seemed to be somewhere behind the room divider.

"Hehe, my master bought me skill books. I'm not very good at reading so she read it for me and even translated it for me. She knows how it works but she can't learn it since she doesn't have the ability to do it."

"That's sweet of her. I hope she can evolve to a digimon who can use healing magic one day." Jijimon said.

"Hehe, she is perfect as who she is! So I'm fine with whoever she is!" Angel replied innocently.

Hearing what she said, Lady smiled faintly before she decided to run in and say out loud,

"Angel! I'm back!"

Nozomi giggled at the playfulness of her voice.

"Aaaah! Lady! Welcome back!" Angel replied before she ran to approach her _twin sister_.

"Nozomi-chan! Come on! Please show her the memento I brought for her!" Lady shouted.

"I got it, I got it." Nozomi replied then walked closer to the crowd and searched for the object that they got from their journey.

It's a transparent cube with a sparkling surface. They have absolutely no idea what that is, but at least Angel took a shine on the item at first sight.

"It's sparkling!" she said cheerfully.

"That thing looks familiar, where did you get it?" Jijimon asked.

"It was just burrowed in the desert sand… no idea why." Nozomi replied.

"Hmm… Never went out that far. I think someone in the city had it and tried to sell it to me last time. I feel pity for the person so I bought it."

"That's interesting. Please let me buy it." Nozomi replied.

"Sure, how does 50 Bits sound to you?"

"That's a little too cheap. Angel loves it so I'll give you 500 bits."

"You're very kind." Jijimon said.

"No problem. Also, if you find another, I'll pay you for it with the same price." Nozomi replied.

"Nice, I'll make sure to find them for you." Jijimon replied gratefully

"Hehe, Nozomi-chan! You have to get me a display to keep them!" Angel said.

"Sure, I'll make sure you will be able to keep them later."

* * *

Farther out;

"Hehe, Leon-chan! I think we got enough seeds today-nya!" Rin said to her Gaomon.

"Really? Awesome! Can we go to the restaurant? I heard they have a nice hot Ramen in the menu!" Leon the Gaomon replied.

"Oooo! Ramen! Let's get them-nya!" Rin said cheerfully.

"But, we need Bits, they don't use Yen currency." Gaomon said.

"Eeeh? Where can we get Bits-nya?" Rin asked.

"Hmmm…. I heard wild Digimons drop them when we defeat them in battle…"

"Really? Is that like, we defeat them and they will pay us so that they can be spared?"

"Hnngg… maybe? Isn't it sounds fun though?"

"That's like a robbery-nya!"

"Ah—you are right… but, Nozomi told me last night, when she walked around, Digimon are attacking us so maybe it's more like their payment as an apology."

"They only apologize if we can defeat them? That's not nice of them-nya!"

"I know, right? We can always evade them though, as long as we're not going too far from the city, we will be fine!"

"But, our business was to look for bits to eat ramen, right-nya?"

"Oh—I forgot about that."

Leon and Rin began to think about what they needed to do later.

"Then, I guess it can't be helped, we have to rob the wild Digimons!"

"Yeah-nya! They're not nice anyway!"

"Let's go, Rin! We shall return and feast our Bits with ramen!"

"Ok-nyaaa!"

The two walked a bit and suddenly, a wild Digimon jumped in to their sight. It's a wild Gabumon with a different color. His claws are green instead of violet, his fur has a lighter blue shade, his body is red instead of yellow, the picture of a digi-egg on his stomach is green instead of blue with violet stripes, and his horn is glossy violet instead of glossy yellow.

"Eeh? Isn't this… uh… Gabumon…Psychedelic version?"

"Psychemon!" Leon the Gaomon said,

Right after he said it, Psychemon growled at them.

"Watch out, Rin, this Digimon is attacking!" Leon quickly took over the front line for her.

"U-uh, Go! Leon! Defeat him-nya!"

"I'll show him how Sonoda's teaching improved me!" Leon said before he launched his first attack at Psychemon's face. It hits so quickly that not even Psychemon was able to guess where the punch landed—all he knows is that he got punched away from his spot.

"That's nice-nya! Punch him again!"

"Got it!" Leon the Gaomon ran in and jumped on him before he punched his body from above, it was too quick and Psychemon scattered into small sparkling cubes. While the minor parts blended with the air, the biggest part remained on the ground.

Rin is flustered, but Leon remained calm.

"Eh… looks like we killed him-nya…" Rin said a little sadly.

"He left this, I wonder what this means?" he picked up the sparkling cube.

"Hnng…." Rin hovered her digivice toward the sparkling cube and scanned it.

"Hmmm… this is… a memory data? I thought it supposed to be formed as a chip?"

"A memory data? Hmm… I wonder how a wild Digimon can drop a memory data."

"Let's ask to Nozomi-chan-nya!" Rin said before she operated her digivice and took a picture of it—then sent it as Digi-mail to Nozomi.

About ten seconds passed before Rin received a reply in her Digivice.

 _Sell it to me for 500 Bits._

Her response said.

"Ooo! That's plenty of bits!" Leon said.

"Yeah-nya, how much do we need for ramen-nya?"

"Hmm… Maybe about 3500 Bits for the jumbo bowl?"

"Let's look for more-nya! Maybe at least 14 of them?"

"Ok!"

* * *

Meanwhile, back in The µ's home,

Anjuu and Erena decided to return to make sure that someone guarded the house. Erena seemed to be busy with monitoring her Ryuudamon practicing on the gym with Anjuu's Lalamon while Anjuu is having so much fun chatting with Kotori and Hanayo.

 _ **From : Minami Kotori**_

 _Really thanks for guarding our house! I would tell Honoka to do it but she seems to be busy with Tsubasa-chan! I've been messaging her but she hasn't responded!_

 _ **To : Minami Kotori , Koizumi Hanayo**_

 _No problem, just leave the will-be-new-couple with what they want to do for now. We can bug them later when they're really going out with each other._

 _ **From : Koizumi Hanayo**_

 _Hehe, Anjuu-chan, you are supporting them. ^_^_

 _ **To : Minami Kotori, Koizumi Hanayo**_

 _Can't be helped, Tsubasa has been so obsessed to meet up and hang out with her. She told me about her childhood past, I feel touched by her passion._

 _ **From : Minami Kotori**_

 _I've never heard Honoka-chan to have any childhood friend other than me and Umi-chan. It's true that people approach her from time to time but that's because she is being bad to them. Honoka-chan is a very bossy person!_

 _ **To : Minami Kotori, Koizumi Hanayo**_

 _Yet the truth is that Tsubasa met her back then and fall in love. Maybe she has a charm after all._

 _ **From : Koizumi Hanayo**_

 _Looking back to my childhood, I think Rin-chan is also a bossy one, but she has a lot of charm because of it._

 _ **From : Minami Kotori**_

 _I think Rin-chan and Honoka-chan are different kinds of bossy though. I mean, like, Rin-chan is only bossy to people she know, right? Honoka-chan is bossy to anyone around her. It's so troublesome! But, the good thing is, she pulls us all to advance for the better future. I guess that's where her charm is!_

 _ **To : Minami Kotori, Koizumi Hanayo**_

 _See? That what makes Tsubasa crazy for her. Someone who can pull her to advance for the better future. Tsubasa has issues with her motivation. She is good in many things and feels like her life is so dull. When her Digimon degraded back to a Digi-Egg, she was so motivated to raise him again, but then, since she got her Mega Digimon, she has never really trained herself, especially after she knew that her rival's Digimon died in a cheater's hand._

 _ **From : Minami Kotori**_

 _You mean, Eli-chan's Kuzuhamon? I didn't know that she was a rival to her. What was her Digimon back then?_

 _ **To : Minami Kotori, Koizumi Hanayo**_

 _Tsubasa's Digimon was a Malo-Myotismon, she is always been into a very destructive Digimon. Her loss to Kuzunoha last time caused her to strive for a better training technique, she heard that there is a secret to it in the depths of Digital World, that's why we joined the expedition back then._

 _ **From : Minami Kotori**_

 _Aah! So the three people whose digimon survived are—!_

 _ **To : Minami Kotori, Koizumi Hanayo**_

 _Exactly, it's us. It was so troublesome, but we learned a lot from that place. We hope to be able to enter that place again… we need more people though. We can't possibly enter that place with only 12 people._

 _ **From : Minami Kotori**_

 _I think it's possible though, I mean, with someone like Tsubasa-san and Eli-senpai, they seem to know a lot about the digital world and it's system._

 _ **From : Koizumi Hanayo**_

 _Kotori-chan, you forgot something._

 _ **From : Minami Kotori**_

 _Eh? What is it?_

 _ **To : Minami Kotori, Koizumi Hanayo**_

 _Tsubasa-chan* , Eli-Chan*, Didn't you tell me that you were supposed to address us less formally?_

 _ **From : Minami Kotori**_

 _You're right! I forgot! ( ^ 8 ^ a )_

 _ **To: Minami Kotori, Koizumi Hanayo**_

 _Anyhow, that's true. If we all have a trick up our sleeves, we probably can do it with 12 people. Perhaps it's related to what we planned to do. It's to unbind ourselves from the Digital World's rules._

 _ **From : Minami Kotori**_

 _What's that mean? ( ' 8 ' )_

 _ **From : Koizumi Hanayo**_

 _I get it, it's to make us all unbound with the time, right? It's like changing the Digital system with what we use in our usual gameplay, but without the restriction to any system and facilities?_

 _ **To: Minami Kotori, Koizumi Hanayo**_

 _Your junior is on a roll, Kotori-chan._

 _ **From : Minami Kotori**_

 _Kayo-chan, you're really good at this aren't you?_

 _ **From : Koizumi Hanayo**_

 _I just took up some readings about digital systems. ^_^a_

 _ **To : Minami Kotori, Koizumi Hanayo**_

 _Reading makes you smarter, but that's only when you read something useful. Anyhow, that's correct, Hanayo-chan. That also means that we have to get Evolution saved in our memory card before we enter that place. I'm good with my Lotosmon, what about you two?_

 _ **From : Minami Kotori**_

 _I'm still far from perfect. I think I'll try to evolve Biyomon into Phoenixmon first._

 _ **From : Koizumi Hanayo**_

 _Me too, I'd like to know what I will have from my Lalamon._

 _ **To : Minami Kotori, Koizumi Hanayo**_

 _It will be hard for you to evolve her if you don't have any guide. I'll teach you how, what about it?_

 _ **From : Koizumi Hanayo**_

 _Sure! That sounds good to me! But, I need to take care of the farm._

 _ **To : Minami Kotori, Koizumi Hanayo**_

 _Even better, you'll have your practice there… you should join too, Kotori-chan._

 _ **From : Minami Kotori**_

 _I think I want to practice with Umi-chan, she might need me from time to time. I wish I could get Honoka-chan too, but, looks like she will be busy with Tsubasa-chan. ( - 8 - )_

 _ **To : Minami Kotori, Koizumi Hanayo**_

 _Don't worry, Kotori-chan, I'll make sure Tsubasa-chan doesn't hog her for herself. She needs to take care of a little business that we have. Not going to tell you about it yet, there's a time and place for that later._

 _ **From : Minami Kotori**_

 _Ok! I'm looking forward to it!_

 _ **From : Koizumi Hanayo**_

 _Me too! Let's work hard for the future!_

* * *

The Tournament Hall, File City;

The preparation room is silent, with only light blue lamps shining all over the room and the digivice directed into a Digimon.

A tall digimon with purple fox mask, long dark grey hair with low twin tail, black latex suit with a few parts of purple armor, silver staff and purple lips. This is the so-called Kuzunoha, the Digimon who was said to be the champion of battles—or could've been the champion of ranked matches if she didn't die in the hands of a cheater.

Eli remained silent as she adjusted her Digimon's settings. She was smiling and somewhat looks excited while her current Renamon stayed behind her, watching the tall Digimon letting Eli do anything to her setting. It's like what Eli had said before are lies, especially about Digimon not being a toy.

Sakuya the Renamon can feel the jealousy burning at her heart at the moment, but what can she say? It's very obvious that she is no match to this Kuzunoha.

Tsubasa who had already finished with her settings entered the room along with Honoka who's still curiously looking at the room as she stepped on the metal floor. Reading the expression, Tsubasa decided to approach the jealous Digimon first.

"Psst, Sakuya, is that your name?" she asked.

"Ah, Tsubasa, welcome. Yes it's my name, is there anything I can help you with?"

"No-no, that's wrong, is there anything I can help you with, Sakuya?"

"N-No, nothing at all." Sakuya replied a little sadly.

"Are you jealous?" Tsubasa asked.

"Nozomi told me that I shouldn't be jealous, so I'm not."

Hearing such an innocent remark, Tsubasa laughed loudly in the room. Eli seemed to be ignoring the fact that they are there—her mind is too busy thinking of her Digimon's settings.

"Oh come on! Sakuya! Nozomi this, Nozomi that, why are you doing what she says? What about you? What do you want to do?"

"I already try to tell her what I feel, but it seems that Eli is passionate with Kuzunoha more than me, so I thought, maybe I should just go with another plan that Nozomi told me."

"See? That's another Nozomi's plan. Just speaking your thoughts out loud isn't going to help you. Start doing an actioacting on something and stop when you feel like you are failing won't help you either. You have to be stubborn."

"I did, but, it doesn't seem to work. I mean, I've never seen Eli that happy with me so I thought, maybe, I'll just give up and watch her do whatever she wants."

"You're not stubborn enough. But anyhow, since I'm nice, I'll help you tell her what you want. In return, you will have to promise me to not act like this again—and 'act like this' means acting like a sore loser, trying to do what others tell you to do so that you can blame them is what a sore loser does."

"I didn't mean to act like that. I just think that Nozomi is the wisest person I can follow. If I fail, I will never blame her."

"Blaming yourself is also a bad thing to do, so just get yourself ahead, ok?"

Sakuya nodded to her.

"Thank you."

"I have to do that for myself too, but anyhow, I'm very motivated for a reason, you know. You have to find that reason for yourself too."

"Yes, I know, I've already planned to watch this battle and make this my motivation."

"That's not enough, you need love. You need to love someone and make her your motivation."

"Hmm… then, I'll do it for Nozomi…"

"Wait, Nozomi?" Tsubasa chuckled.

"Yes, I think I kind of… love her…"

"Haha! That's not generally wrong but wrong in a way, you could love someone else!"

"I know, but, maybe it will be hard, so…" Sakuya averted her eyes.

"Shush, tell no more. We will be in battle soon."

"O…Ok?" Sakuya tilted her head slightly as she watched Tsubasa walk away from her.

"Honoka! Are you done with browsing around?" Tsubasa asked.

"Yup! There's nothing suspicious here, Tsubasa-chan!"

"Nothing, suspicious?" Sakuya blinked, confused with what exactly could be suspicious for them.

"Then, let's go back to our room and prepare for the battle! Sebastian and Ichigo must be very eager!"

The two girls left the room without saying a single word to the blonde who's still busy with her Digimon. After a while, Sakuya smiled at them, appreciating everything that they've said to her.

"I got it! I got it! Now you can use that skill again, Kuzunoha!" Eli said excitedly.

Sakuya surprised to hear such a cheerful voice coming out of her tamer, though the moment she looked at her tamer…

The tall purple digimon remained silent and unresponsive. After all, this Digimon is only a projected physical data, no soul or anything that could give her an emotion to express. The blonde's cheerful azure eyes began to change to a sorrowful glance, she seemed to realize something that made her heart shatter. She trailed her hand on Kuzunoha's wrist—perhaps to make sure that she is touchable right now and released her with the saddest smile she ever made.

Sakuya had the urge to comfort her, though for some reason, she felt like she shouldn't interfere with whatever thought she has towards her Kuzunoha right now.

Eventually, Eli left her Kuzunoha and walked to the entrance of the room.

"Sakuya, there's 15 minutes left before the fight starts. I'm going to the bathroom for a bit. Take care of yourself, ok?"

"I understand." Sakuya replied.

"Harasho, I'm leaving now." She said before she stormed out of the room.

When she completely left the room, Sakuya remained in her place, silently looking at the entrance, then batting her eyes toward Kuzunoha. She noticed that there's a movement on the wrist that Eli touched before. She clenched her fist, for sure, but, what does that mean, exactly?

She was about to question further when a static appeared from Kuzunoha's body and she was suddenly blinded with a light from an unknown source. She covered herself for a bit before a set of swift holographic vision appeared on Kuzunoha's place.

 _Viximon, you are my digimon partner now._

Eli's voice is heard from unknown source. A gentle hand also appeared out of nowhere and patted the head of a yellow baby-fox-like digimon.

The static appeared again and the vision changed. Viximon is now a Renamon like her.

 _Harasho, you are Renamon now, right? You look tougher, but there are still so many things to do. Let's work harder, ok?_

Said Eli's voice as a playful hand shoved the Renamon's shoulder.

Once again, the vision changed, though it only returned into the silent Kuzuhamon.

"Kuzunoha…." Sakuya calls her gently, yet Kuzunoha remained unresponsive.

She decided to approach the silent Digimon closer.

When her eyes are set right in front of her, Kuzunoha once again projected a vision to her.

It looked like a Kyuubimon but with purple color.

 _Uh, she is not Kyuubimon, are you sure you're doing it right, Ericchi?_

Nozomi's voice is heard from Kuzunoha's vision

 _Maybe not, but either way, I'll take care of her. She is still her, right? I'm going to make her better than anyone else!_

 _There, Ericchi. I know you more than you know yourself. If you don't like her, you should just reset her digivolution and start over. It's better than you raising a digimon half assed._

 _What are you talking about, Nozomi! Even if she isn't going to become Sakuyamon, I'll love her! She has the same color like your hair too! I'm pretty sure I will love her as much as I love you!_

 _There-there, flirting with your new girlfriend, aren't you?_

Then, once again, the vision changed. This time, she turned into a purple Taoist humanoid fox.

 _Harasho! Just a little bit more and I shall grant you a nickname, Kuzunoha!_

 _Can't it be now, Ericchi?_

 _Sheesh, it's not fitting her image yet, Nozomi. Kuzunoha is a Kuzuhamon and nothing else!_

 _Well, up to you, but anyway, don't overwork her, ok? She has feeling too._

One more time, the vision changed and this time, she can see the quiet Kuzuhamon return but with a big hole on her neck. Sakuya was confused until she started to hear the recorded scream of her tamer.

 _Kuzunoha! Kuzunoha! Hang in there! Someone please save her!_

Kuzunoha's body crumbles into sparkling cubes, disappearing into thin air.

 _Please! Kuzunoha!_

The voice echoed around the room. Sakuya could feel all the despair and sorrow that happened in the vision. After the vision ended, the quiet Kuzunoha returned and did nothing but stand in front of her. What kind of force would drive such a vision to happen only before her eyes? Is it truly a fate or something else at work?

In another preparation room.

Honoka and Tsubasa are testing the projected Digimon— a big demonic Digimon with light blue armor, living-jaw-like artillery cannons on his shoulder, darker blue half parachute-like wings and a red mask on his face. Tsubasa gave him a few commands while Honoka stayed in her place to watch, along with Sebastian and Ichigo.

"Hey, Honoka-chan, did you know that the artillery on his shoulder have names?" Sebastian asked.

"It has? Did Tsubasa name it?"

"Uhm… No. It's just the parts that are named naturally. They are called Sodom and Gomorrah."

"I've never heard of them." Honoka replied.

"Those are named after the two sinful cities which were destroyed by the Divine Judgment by the God Himself. Men and Women in Sodom and Gomorrah have committed the most grievous sins. I won't mention about what they did, but, let me just tell you about what happened in there before the Divine Judgment fell upon them. Two angels were sent to investigate for righteous people in there. If they happen to find more than 10 people, then the city will be spared, but if there's no more than that, the city will be destroyed."

"Oh, so, is it destroyed in the end?" Honoka asked eagerly.

"Yep, only a very few people are righteous and it's less than ten. So they are called to leave the city while the rest of people in those cities were burnt down into nothing. Even so, there's one woman who disobeyed the Angel's warning, so she was turned into a pillar of salt."

"S-Scary." Honoka replied with a smirk.

"What's the point of the story tough? It's a little too sudden." Ichigo said.

"Believe it or not, I was that Malo-Myotismon before I turned into who I am now. I always thought that Sodom and Gomorrah were my only best friends, but now I feel so much freer than ever. Thanks to you, Ichigo!" Sebastian said.

"Eeeh? Meee?"

"Yup, it was really nice to hang out with you, even if it's only about food, it's so much more fun than how I was back then. Perhaps, this is the same feeling that Tsubasa feels about you, Honoka-chan."

"Huh? What about her?"

"Even if she just met you and fall in love at first sight, she has never been so motivated to pass through her days. Then, every single time she wakes up, she would always go, _I'm surely going to meet up with Honoka today!_ Or like recently, she was like, _I'll impress her today_!"

"If that's the case, then, should I pretend that I'm not impressed?" Honoka asked.

"Huh? No way, just be who you are, I'm sure she is happier that way." Sebastian replied.

"But, she needs me to be her motivation everyday, right?"

"There must be another way to do it, Honoka-chan." Ichigo said.

"You're right, Ichigo. I wonder what makes her feel motivated."

"You don't have to think too much about it, Honoka-chan, I was just saying it as an appreciation about your existence in her life." Sebastian said.

"Is that so? Hehe, alright! Then I can just exist and she will feel happy about it?"

"Uhm, that works but not quite literally just existing… you need to do something too!"

"Hehe! I know-I know!" Honoka giggled.

"Alright! He is fully tested now!" Tsubasa suddenly shouted and grabbed everyone's attention.

"Ooo! So we're going to battle soon, Tsubasa-chan?"

"Of course!" Tsubasa replied cheerfully.

"Five minutes left before the gate is open. I'm very excited about how things will go." Sebastian said.

"I doubt you can win, honestly. All remaining status saved in my digivice is the status when you won S-Rank for the first time. She probably has the same time, but knowing that Eli is such an overachiever, she probably had it set on World-Rank Status." Tsubasa said.

"World Rank?" Honoka wondered.

"Ah, right, World Rank is the winner of Ultimate of the S-Ranked Tournament. If you win that, you are officially said to be stronger than the S-Rank. Eli might have planned that status before she entered her first S-Rank Tournament. The other reason why you probably can't win is that I can't use any cards to support you, it's all on technique and she is probably better with that." Tsubasa explained.

Honoka seem to be worried, though she said nothing about her worry.

"We can have another match after. I'll make sure to win the other one." Tsubasa said.

"Eh, Another match?"

"Yep, using the Sebastian now, of course, versus her Sakuya."

"Oh—alright! It's for that plan, right Tsubasa-chan?"

"Yup! For that plan! Make sure you remember what to say later, ok?"

"Ok!" Honoka replied cheerfully.

"Uh, is there something that I missed?" Ichigo asked.

"Yep, you see, Ichigo, we both have been thinking that we should be a motivator duo." Tsubasa said.

"Motivator… duo?"

"Yep, so we will start from Eli-chan, we will motivate her enough to train her Renamon. Next, we will help Umi-chan on practice too! Then, later, we will look for what the others need as well." Honoka said.

"Uh, does she actually need your help though?" Ichigo asked.

"Who cares about need or not, we will make it less obvious!" Tsubasa said.

"Is that plan coming out of nowhere? I never knew about this." Sebastian said.

"I'm just sad when looking at how the girls are so slow on their practice! Some are not even Champion yet!" Tsubasa said.

"But they just started a few days ago, it's normal to not be a champion… Ichigo isn't even a champion yet. Honoka-chan can't be a motivator…" Sebastian said.

"That's where you are wrong, Sebastian! Honoka will be the best motivator. I'll make sure to help her evolving her Digimon!

"You said that over and over, Tsubasa, but here we are avenging our previous loses."

"Shush you, Sebastian. Anyway, I need to be in the Arena soon. Make sure you're watching, ok?"

"Alright. I'm ready when you are."

"Haha, Sebastian, you don't need to speak for your copy!" Tsubasa said before the floor under her began to signal an alarm. Honoka, Sebastian, and Ichigo moved all the way to the safe area that was already marked with a yellow line.

"Let's go to the Audience seat, Honoka-chan." Sebastian said.

"Ok!"

* * *

In the Audience Seat of File City's Tournament hall;

Sakuya the Renamon patiently waited for the battle to start. She is very sure that she will be able to grasp the idea of Eli's battle style, just like what Eli requested her. She is also sure that she is not jealous, just like what Nozomi asked her. But come to think of it, perhaps Tsubasa was right about how she is supposed to be thinking of her own feelings before thinking about Eli's feelings towards her.

She is not angry with Eli, she feels pity for her. She is also not holding any grudges to her, she just wants her to like her more than she likes her Kuzunoha. She had said this to herself over and over before, though, she feel like saying it once again just to reassure herself about what she truly feels.

When doubt strikes her, she knows that she has to contact Nozomi again, but at the time she was about to use her ability as a digimon—contacting a digivice without using any tools, Nozomi walked into the tournament hall and took a seat next to her, along with Angel.

"Aaah! Sakuya!" Angel cheerfully called her.

"Angel, Nozomi…" Sakuya greet them.

"I was about to call you since I can't find Ericchi on the first floor, but thanks to Tourney Greymon for asking me to be the audience of his first Come-Back Battle. I just know that she would involve testing out his stuff."

"It was actually a request from Tsubasa." Sakuya replied

"Ahh, a re-match then. Tsubasa is a tough foe, but Eli won over her four times. The Rookie Tournament, The Champion Tournament, The Ultimate Tournament, and The Mega Tournament."

"Do they always meet in every single rank tournament?"

"Yep, either Tsubasa followed her movement or it was purely fate that led the two to meet in a tournament."

"Have you ever fought Eli?"

"Duel? Sure I did, in Mega Tournament to be exact. Her Doumon defeated both Angel and Lady."

"Wait, you get to enter two Digimons?"

"My, what's wrong with that? I can enter both since both are my partner Digimon."

"That's unfair." Sakuya said.

"Yet Ericchi won and I'm stuck in Ultimate since I promised that I will train them five times harder before entering another Ultimate Tournament."

"True…"

"Face it, you shouldn't give up fighting when you can't find justice. In the real world, no one cares about the numbers… it's about skill and power. You've seen Lady defeating a massive number of Wild Digimon, why are you complaining when I have both of my Digimon enter to fight a single Digimon?"

"You're right, I'm sorry."

"Yup, be sorry and be glad that you said that to me before you said that to Ericchi. She will be angry with your cowardly remark."

Soon after Nozomi said it, Honoka, Sebastian and Ichigo walk closer to them.

"Nozomi-senpai! I mean… Nozomi-chan!" Honoka greeted.

"Aah, Honoka-chan!" Nozomi turned to her.

"Here to watch your darling, right?" She continued.

"E-Ehh? No! We're not that close… yet…"

"Not that close yet, huh? That sounds very convincing, what happened today?"

"T-that's a long story, can we talk later? Hehe, I just want to enjoy the show today." Honoka replied.

"My, you're so out of character, Honoka-chan."

"W-What do you mean out of character? I think I'm fine!" Honoka replied with a pout.

"You sure are, but it's rare for you to keep something for yourself."

"Either way, Nozomi-chan! I don't want to talk about it!"

"Hmm….? You don't want to talk about it? What if I turn out to be the perfect person to talk with?"

"I doubt that! Uh… I mean, I really don't want to talk about it!"

"Hnn… fine, you're no fun, Honoka-chan."

"E-eh? But…."

"I'm joking, I don't want to pry too much. Good luck with whatever you're trying to do." Nozomi replied with a mischievous smile. Sebastian and Ichigo wondered what exactly Nozomi had in mind when she gave Honoka a curious yet playful glance. It might be better for them to stay quiet since the battle is about to start in two minutes or less.

By the time Honoka finally decided to take her seat close to Nozomi, Ichigo and Sebastian took the seat behind her. The Audience room is close to empty as they are the only group in it.

The Arena is finally open, Eli and her Kuzunoha appeared from the first lifted podium while Tsubasa appeared on the other podium with her Malo-Myotismon. Tsubasa give her foe the most arrogant smile while Eli kept her cold glare that everyone always sees on her.

This is the start of the most intense battle Honoka has ever seen, or so she thinks…

"I'm very excited, how are they going to fight?!" Honoka said eagerly.

"I've heard from Ericchi that they can't use cards here, so this is going to be purely from Digimon settings and tamer skills. It will be very fun, I'm sure." Nozomi commented.

"Rookie was fun enough for me."

"Rookie Tournament…" Nozomi giggled.

"What are you expecting from that? I barely know if they even have anything to show off." She said still with some giggle between her words.

"uh… because Digimons are fighting?"

"You like to watch fights? My, you're pretty boyish, just like Ericchi."

"Eh?"

"She decided to enter fight for the first time because she likes fighting. She said there's a special thrill in it."

"What about you? Don't you feel the thrill when watching a fight?"

"Not quite, I prefer being an actual support than being an audience or a tamer. None of my digimon are trained by me, they're all trained by Ericchi."

"Really? I never knew!" Honoka said.

The timer for the battle to start has begun, it seemed that both tamers were supposed to make a speech before the timer started, yet the two are just glaring at each other.

Kuzunoha entered the arena at the same time with Tsubasa's Malo-Myotismon.

"A true strength is where one is able to defeat their weakness. That was what you said to me back then, right?" Tsubasa said with her smug face.

"Are you seriously going to use your former Digimon? Don't be stupid. You know it was a mistake."

"You have to prove it to me again, maybe you were just lucky."

Eli sighed.

"Let's get this over with, ok?"

The timer begins and the bell for the battle to start rings.

The first move was launched by Tsubasa's Malo-Myotismon who dashed forward and lifted his claws, bashed his darkness toward the calm violet fox maiden. By the time his claw is so close to scratch her head, Kuzunoha swiftly crouched and swung her silver monk staff, tackling the Digimon down and countered his attack.

"Wow, what was that again?" Honoka asked.

"Counter, many tamers dislike this skill because it's very hard to time it. Also, sometimes it's because Digimons can't time it properly. But it's actually a very useful skill on a witty Digimon."

"Uaah, ok! I've never knew that skill."

"You should learn it, Ichigo, maybe you're good at it." Nozomi said.

"Huh? Learn what?" Ichigo asked innocently.

"Nevermind, what are you looking at?"

"Uh… that?" Ichigo pointed at Tsubasa's Malo-Myotismon.

Nozomi, Honoka, Sakuya and Sebastian tried to search for what may interest Ichigo. A moment of fight passed, they watched each movement carefully yet they can't see anything other than the fight itself.

"There's the same effect on Kuzunoha too." Ichigo said.

"Huh? I can't see anything, Ichigo. It's only Kuzunoha." Honoka said.

"Yep, Can't see too. Angel, can you see anything?" Nozomi asked.

But no response was given by the specific Digimon.

"Angel?" Nozomi searched for her but she is nowhere to be found.

"Hmm… She went off." Nozomi sighed.

"When did she go, I never noticed." Sebastian said.

"Hehe, don't worry about her, she must be somewhere for a reason."

* * *

Meanwhile in the clinic,

Angemon is been explaining the medicine cabinet to Lady. She is paying attention to him quietly and even diligently taking notes.

"… so, do you understand now, Lady?" Angemon asked.

"Not quite about what you just said. You were saying that you are letting the Digimon come and visit you instead of you coming over to where they are at."

"We don't have enough people for that system. Someone has to be in the clinic to serve the other."

"Are you like, the only digimon who can do some healing here?"

"Yes, also, the only one who can create medicine."

"Pffft, If that's the case, then you go out right now and I'll stay here to make the medicine and serve customers."

"Wait, what? Why do I have to be the one who goes out?"

"You're a champion Digimon, I'm a Rookie, the older one always loses, so go now."

"That's unfair!" Angemon protested.

Suddenly, the door of the clinic is opened.

"Lady!" An excited voice is heard.

"Ah, Angel, I wonder what's with—…"

Before Lady was able to finish her word.

"Come with me!" Angel ran in and pushed Lady out of the clinic.

"Huh? What?" Lady and Angel left the clinic so quickly.

Angemon is dumbfounded by the swiftness of both Rookie Digimon, but part of him is glad that he doesn't have to leave the clinic today.

* * *

Back in the Arena,

The battle between the two silent Digimon continue, both tamers are halting each of the action to make sure that they are really carefully taking their moves. Eli and Kuzunoha are always into countering melee attacks and dodging ranged attack, while Tsubasa and her Malo-Myotismon are always into full offense.

It's obvious that Tsubasa is at a disadvantage, especially with how her Malo-Myotismon is slightly slower than Eli's Kuzunoha. There's only one minute left, Malo-Myotismon's health bar is 10% lower than Kuzunoha's. Tsubasa needs to take an action if she doesn't want to lose when the time limit is over—again.

"Isn't this nostalgic?" Tsubasa asked with her arrogant smile.

"It sure is, and just like what I thought, you were doing the same mistake. Full offense is a bad idea, it always is." Eli replied with her unamused smile.

"Only when I'm up against tactician." The short girl crossed her arms.

"I'll just finish you off now, I'm tired." The Blonde sighed.

"Kuzunoha! _Taizoukai Mandara_!" she continued with a shout.

"Now!" Tsubasa shouted.

Malo-Myotismon launched his powerful-ranged attack— a fast and powerful dark beam launched in a straight line, Kuzunoha swiftly move to the side, dodging his attack then dashing forward before she jumps to the air and casted a powerful magic circle on the ground, freezing Malo-Myotismon in her circle.

This is a sure victory for the blonde, there's nothing more to watch than a powerful blast finishing off the Malo-Myotismon.

"That was a nice try, but you should've known that, if you want to cancel my finishing attack, you could've used a fast cast skill with delayed damage such as Darkness rain."

"Haha, yeah, I thought I could've canceled that one." Tsubasa giggled.

Honoka who had been watching the fight looks slightly disappointed. It's not quite the fun fight she expected and Nozomi seemed to be less amused while Sakuya is still somewhat being overly serious about watching the fight.

The blast went off and Malo-Myotismon is down. The Victory didn't bring a smile to the winner, instead, it only caused her to let out a soft sigh and bored eyes. The alarm rings and the battle is over.

"Hahaha, the past surely will never changes, huh?" Tsubasa said,

"What's the point of a rematch if you're not even trying."

"Heh—I just realized that the past will never change. But, I'm sure I'll beat you ten times if you fight me with your new Renamon."

"Obviously because I got her recently. She isn't even an ultimate." Eli replied.

"But we're in a different server right now. If we fight, you will face my rookie Sebastian with your Rookie Renamon. It's a fair fight."

"I didn't even train her yet."

"Haha, you must have been too rotten to fight, huh?"

"Provoking me is useless. I already knew that."

"I didn't even want to provoke you, I was just saying. Besides, I'm too rotten to fight too. You need to wake me up and be my rival once again."

Eli was surprised to hear it. She tilted her head slightly and raised her eyebrow.

"Can't you bug someone else for that?"

"You are the only person who can do this, right Honoka?" Tsubasa called the ginger girl on the audience seat.

"Yep! You sure are, Eli-senpai— uh…I mean, Eli-chan!"

The Blonde remained silent, she keep glaring at the purplenette who sat next to Honoka. She feels like she might also be the one behind all these.

"It's an additional agreement we made, don't be too offended. But I entirely agree with it anyway. If we truly want to be independent, we need to be strong and one of the methods to keep ourselves strong is to find a rival to grow with." Tsubasa said.

"The point is, I haven't even trained my Sakuya. I planned to but things are getting in my way."

"Excuses! What about ' _a successful tamer is the one who can bring their digimon to victory despite any type of condition_?' I swear you said that to me before!"

Eli pouts, her eyes turn to her Sakuya who sat on the audience seat, then turned to her Kuzunoha who stood right on the Arena in front of her.

"Kuzunoha, return." The blonde said. The violet fox maiden jumped swiftly and placed herself behind the blonde girl.

"So what do you want now? Fight with Sakuya?" she asked.

Tsubasa smiled. Malo Myotismon woke up from his bad position, went up to where Tsubasa is and stood behind her. The short girl lifted her hand, snapped a finger arrogantly before she shouts,

"Sebastian!"

Her Black Agumon tried to climb the fence to the stage. It took a while for him to finish his clumsy moves and reach his destination—the Arena.

"I'm ready!" he said.

Tsubasa gives him a thumb up.

Eli remained silent, though her eyes glance at the Fox-like Digimon.

"What are you waiting for, Sakuya? She is calling you." Nozomi whispered.

"She did?"

"Yep, her eyes did. I know it's hard to hear it, but when she has those eyes on you, she is trying to call upon you. It's your choice to answer it with an act or reject it with silence."

"Why is she so complicated." Sakuya commented.

"You have to get used to it. Now, go before she changes her mind."

Sakuya nodded before she jumped up so swiftly. Landed perfectly on the Arena, she set up her coolest fighting pose.

"I'm ready." She said.

"I assume we don't need timer or alarm, huh? Let's do this." Tsubasa said.

Eli rolled her eyes.

"Just show me what you got, Sakuya. I don't care about this fight."

Sakuya nodded, she wants to make sure that this is a good fight to watch. Tsubasa and Sebastian nod to each other for a confirmation.

"One!" Honoka suddenly shouted.

"Eh? You are counting? Ok!" Tsubasa said cheerfully.

"Two!" Honoka shouted again.

Sakuya and Sebastian took each of their own position.

"Three! Goooo!"

And the first move is owned by Sakuya. She dashed forward and gave her first punch to the head of the black lizard– yet he seems to feel no pain on where he got hit.

Opening the chance for Sebastian to hit, he used a fire breath to counter Sakuya. She didn't get the chance to dodge and decided to put a weak defense against it. The unexpected attack is launched by Sebastian first as he spread a powerful fire blast around himself. Sakuya recoiled further and she already had half of her health shaved off with the damage from two attacks.

It's impossible to win against him, but Sakuya refused to give up. She knows well that Eli is watching and she really needs to win this fight somehow. Sebastian makes another move: he immediately ran towards her and aimed his bite.

Sakuya tried to dodge but her intuition isn't enough to save her, her leg was caught and she was thrown up into the air. This might be over if she isn't trying to do anything to counter. She knows that Sebastian probably has prepared another attack down there, she has to do something with her current position.

As brilliant as her Renamon nature, an idea struck the tactician's mind. Without a second's delay, she switched her position with Sebastian's position, then she immediately casted a Diamond Storm to directed to where he is.

Eli seem to take an interest to what Sakuya just did.

"Clever move." She whispered to herself as she watched Sebastian take double damage from the Diamond Storm and the unprepared fall. It's not that much damage to him tough. He still has about 85% of health.

Tsubasa's Black Agumon got up carefully, it seems that he is still paralyzed from the critical hits. Again, with the swiftness she possesses, Sakuya dashed toward him and this time, she made sure that she truly hits with all of her strength.

But her effort was not enough. The hits remained painless for the Black Lizard's solid skin. Sakuya learned enough— now she knows that her physical attack is pointless to fight him. She needs to use magic.

"Woah, I never knew Sebastian is that tough." Honoka commented.

"Hehe, Agumon kind are always special in physical power, you need to take a note of that, Honoka-chan." Nozomi replied.

"Ok! Hehe!" Honoka replied.

"Go-go! Sebastiaaan! Fight! Fight!" Ichigo shouted excitedly.

By the time Sebastian gained control over his body, he stood back up and prepared to fight again. Sakuya has made a distance from him, she really needs to make sure to use effective magic. With the strength of his kind, Tsubasa's Black Agumon charged his fiery breath and shot massively at the agile Renamon.

"Isn't this full offense technique again?" The blonde sighed as she placed her palm on her face.

"Not quite, Eli, not quite…"

The blonde lifted her eyebrow, expecting to hear something stupid.

By the time Sakuya dashes in to the black lizard, she already charged her diamond storm and casting it on his back, yet he was able to turn around and blasted his bigger fire up close. That's surely a critical damage and doubled since he is winning in type.

Sakuya is no longer able to fight this round, not when she barely can wake up from where she thrown.

Eli rolled her eyes.

"That's the most reckless move I've ever seen."

"Thanks, I called it Offense and Counter." Tsubasa replied.

"Not you, I'm talking about Sakuya's move."

"Oh…"

"I'm sorry, Eli…" Sakuya said weakly before she tried to get up.

"I don't care. But anyway…" The azure eyes turn into the proud tamer.

"I disagree, you don't need a rival to be strong."

"So you are trying to say… you refuse my offer to grow together?" Tsubasa asked to the cold blonde. Eli smirks at her, signaling her Kuzunoha to jump out of podium, picking her weakened Sakuya and pressed a button on her podium when the two Digimon were able to return next to her.

"I don't need you." Eli replied coldly before she left.

Now the room is awkwardly quiet. Honoka and Nozomi remained silent on the audience seat while Ichigo is embarrassingly cheering for Sebastian.

"Wow, she brushed me off again. That didn't work well, Nozomi." Tsubasa said.

Nozomi giggled.

"It actually works in a way. She is just too stubborn to admit her defeat. I'll go meet her now to reassure you about it." She said.

"What about our main deal?" Tsubasa asked.

"Don't sweat about it. We already signed a contract."

"Great! Just let me know about the progress, ok?"

"Yup, only bug Erena and Anjuu about the details and you for the report. I get it" Nozomi replied before she walked off the audience seats.

The File City;

Kotori and Suzaku has finished with their delivery order today. They've been getting plenty of tips for being fast and careful with the items.

"Haaaah, it's over. We can take a break or pay a visit to Umi-chan." Kotori said.

"Let's take a break for a bit, I'm very tired!" Suzaku said.

"Ok!" Kotori replied cheerfully. The two decided to walk to their post. It's not a far journey, though they can see plenty of City Digimon gathered around the heart of the city,

"I wonder why they were not active before we got here. This city has its own potential." Kotori said.

"I've heard stories. They said, the city felt dull without human beings and they eventually lost their spirit and began to live without ambition. When we got here, they said that we gave them a spark of hope to be able to fix their condition."

"To begin with, why do they need humans when they have their own life? How was it in the past before they knew human beings?" Kotori asked.

"A lot of mess happened in the city. At first they thought that humans are evil because their sample was the Analogman, a man who wanted to take control of the Digital world, then after that, there is one boy who was able to fix the mess. As the city grew, they invited another human being to experiment, but it caused a crisis and once again were fixed by a group of human children." Suzaku replied.

"That's nice, do you think that the mess right now is also caused by human beings and we're supposed to fix it?" Kotori asked.

"Maybe, but we don't know what exactly caused them to lose their spirit." Suzaku replied.

"Hmm… maybe that's where Honoka-chan is urgently needed right now. But she doesn't seem to be around. I haven't been getting any reply since this morning…" Kotori said a little sadly.

"I wonder if she is alright?"

"Tsubasa-chan is with her, right? I don't think there will be anything weird that would happen to them, unless they decided to do something weird." Kotori said.

"Like what?" Suzaku asked.

Right after they said it, they suddenly heard the Tournament hall's megaphone turned on. All the Digimon around them turn their attention to it.

"Hellllooooo everyone!" Tsubasa's voice loudly coming out of it.

"The tournament hall is now open for a beginner tournament, so what are you waiting for? Come and join the fight! Right Honoka?!"

"Yep! Let's Fight!" Honoka said cheerfully.

Soon after the megaphone's session ended, the digimon around the city began to talk about it.

"Beginner tournament? That means they have fixed the facilities on the first floor?" said a champion Digimon with green skin, horns, and big jaws.

"That means, Andromon is back?" said the similar looking Digimon but with ochre skin.

"I heard they got a new technician." The other similar looking Digimon with blue skin said.

"Could it be one of the humans?" the ochre said.

"Maybe, young humans are always very useful, that's why everyone in the city knows that they should open the shop for them." The green one said.

"True, they always give us life. I'm glad they are here." The blue one said.

"Yeah, they don't seem to look like those evil soldiers." The Ochre said.

Kotori and Suzaku glanced at each other, wondering about the 'soldiers' the digimon were talking about.

* * *

The Tournament Hall;

Tsubasa and Honoka stepped out of the announcement room, along with Ichigo and Sebastian. Tourney Greymon stood near the entrance and he seemed to be happy.

"Thank you so much. Now I'll be able to haul some bits in." he said.

"No problem, the fight was good enough for the test, right?" Tsubasa said.

"Haha, I've seen better fights." Tourney Greymon replied.

"Is that so? Then, you haven't seen the last of us!"

"I'll be waiting! But, anyhow, your blonde friend will still be around here, right?"

"Yep, I'm sure she will keep her promise."

"Great, then, who is the purple haired girl?"

"That's her girlfriend. She is also a complicated person, but emotionally very stable unlike the blonde one."

"Girlfriend? What is that?" Tourney Greymon tilted his head.

"It means that she is the most important person in her life." Tsubasa replied.

"Oh... I see." Tourney Greymon nods.

"Then, Garurumon is my girlfriend."

Tsubasa and Honoka were surprised to hear it.

"Uh, I think you got the wrong idea." Honoka said.

Tsubasa chuckled.

"Haha, yeah, 'girlfriend' is meant to be for a female, not a male!" she said.

"Oh, the male one is…?" Tourney Greymon asked.

"Boyfriend!" Tsubasa said.

"Yeah, also, it was—!" before Honoka able to explain, Tsubasa cuts in.

"Hahaha, we should be off now, Tourney Greymon."

"That's so soon." Tourney Greymon said.

"Yep, we need to get our Digimon to practice!" Tsubasa said as she embraced Honoka.

"Good luck!" Tourney Greymon said.

"Ok! Thank you!" Tsubasa replied cheerfully before they walked off the Tournament hall together.

* * *

Somewhere around the dim forest;

Niko and Maki traveled through the rocky streets as Polymnia and Chibby followed them as they thoroughly scanned the area. A few wild Champion digimon attempted to defeat them before but the two were able to kill them after some hard work. With plenty of Maki's supplies and Niko's trickery, the two were able to reach the depth of the forest.

They both arrived in front of a house that looked like it was made of candy. There's a small pond and a big gate. A glossy white, slime-like Digimon with gaudy platinum and gold accessories was moving around the front garden behind the gate.

"Uh…so, what were you trying to do again?" Maki asked with one of her eyebrow lifted.

"You see, Maki-chan, since you are probably my best friend—"

"Probably your best friend? More like, probably the only person who's stupid enough to follow you. What do you need?" Maki cuts in.

"Eh, you don't need to be that furious, I was just thinking, if we happen to be able to enter the very place and find something worth a treasure."

"You see that slime over there?"

"Yeah, that one is called Platinum Numemon. They eat poop."

"I don't even want to hear that detail! Anyway! I don't want to be in a mess with you, I'm going home!" Maki turned around and quickly tried to leave.

"They are weak, you can defeat them! Even with a rookie digimon!" Niko held her back.

"Who cares about that?! This is a house of something and they are entitled to a thing called 'privacy' which you should respect!"

"Oh—Come on! It's a Digital world property! They're meant for adventure!" Niko said as her Chibby passed by behind her.

"No!" Maki yelled loudly. Without her realizing, Chibby flew up with Polymnia who tried to protest, but no one heard her.

"There-there, if you don't have an adventurous heart, you will never be as good as Eli, you know."

"I have my own way, thank you!" Maki yelled again.

"It's going to be just a while, please!" Niko said.

"I still don't care about that! I'm going home! Let's go, Polymnia!" Maki tried to look for her Lunamon who supposed to be somewhere behind her.

"Polymnia?" Maki is now looking around.

"Makiiii!" Polymnia shouted after Chibby dropped her behind the gate.

"Polymnia!"

The red haired girl was shocked to see how everything was done without her knowledge.

"Ooo! Good job, Chibby, I knew I could count on you!" Niko appreciated.

"No problem, Niko-chan. I'll look for the key to open the gate!" Chibby said.

"H-hey! Give me a break! Don't treat her like that!" Maki yelled at the little girl.

"Don't worry! I have cards to get through everything." Niko proudly said

"Then why do you even need me to help you out, huh?"

"There, I'm just saving them all until we get to enter the gate. Also, these aren't my cards. I took them from the Workshop."

"Then those are Eli's! You shouldn't use them!"

"It's all gold cards, they're all decent and permanent, the only problem is only my battery so, yeah, that's why I was saving them. Besides, Eli probably has better cards in her pocket so I believe she won't mind. Plus, if anything happens, we can just blame Nozomi and she won't even pry about it anymore." Niko said.

"Y-you're a devil!" Maki yelled angrily again.

"You're welcome. Just relax for a bit now, we will surely get our treasure!"

"Gggghhh! Fine! But I won't shield you if anything happen to those cards, ok? I'll certainly tell them that you did it!"

"Oh, Come on! Maki-chan! Stop being a spoilsport!"

* * *

 **Ch 13 coming soon!**


	13. Ch13: The Hidden Eyes

**I stumbled into something so i had to work that one out before i can upload the next chapter.**

 **Here you go! One more chapter in a bit!**

* * *

A few hours passed in real world.

A few days passed in the digital world. Tsubasa and Honoka decided to train their Digimon in the wild. Even though Sebastian has turned into a Dark-Tyranomon, Honoka's Ichigo still remained an Agumon.

"Hngg… it's weird, how could you not have your Greymon yet? I swear the status looks alright, the weight looks fine too." Tsubasa said.

"Hnng… I don't know?" Honoka said with concern in her eyes.

"Hmm, maybe you're not happy? But what are you not happy about, Ichigo?" Tsubasa asked.

"Uh… maybe because I was not named 'Steak?'"

"No-no, that shouldn't be a problem. If you're happy, then you should not care about what your name is."

"Uh…. Then it's because… Honoka-chan rarely pats me on the head?" Ichigo asked.

"Nah, shouldn't be a problem too. Hmm… maybe you're not battling enough?" Tsubasa said.

"Battles! I love battles!" Ichigo said.

"Oohhh! So we need to stimulate his happiness with battles?" Honoka asked.

"Yep, but maybe, we need it to be an extremely tight battle?" Tsubasa said.

"Hooo! Sure! That sounds fun! I like tight battles too! Wild Battle is kind of a little too repetitive and boring after a while." Honoka said.

"We can try to duel, but it's not fair since you are a rookie and I have a champion Digimon." Tsubasa said.

"Hnn, that's no good?" Honoka asked.

"Nope. But anyway, we can try asking our favorite rival, Eli!" Tsubasa said.

"Ah, right! I wonder if her Renamon has evolved yet." Honoka said.

"Let me check, we should be able to peek at her status from here." Tsubasa operated her Digivice to search for Eli's profile. After a few minutes of search, Tsubasa seemed to be unamused.

"Dang—she is good. This isn't even a status for Champion Digimon…" she mumbled with a bitter smirk on her face.

"What's wrong, Tsubasa-chan?" Honoka asked.

"Ah, ahaha, never mind Eli, let's look for someone else." She said.

"Oh, ok!"

"Hmmm, what about, your close friends?"

"Kotori-chan and Umi-chan?" Honoka asked.

"Yeah, I haven't seen you contacting them for a while now." Tsubasa said.

Honoka remained silent for a moment, then she quickly took a glance at her Digivice. She knew that there has been a few emails piled up in her inbox, but she never got the chance to open them since she is with someone else for the past few day in the digital world.

"Hehe, maybe we can just meet with them in the city?" Honoka offered.

"Sure! I need to meet up with Erena and Anjuu too. They've been messaging me but I always ignored them."

"Ah, then, you need some time alone? I think we both can use some time to spend with them."

"Hehe, it's like you read through my mind, Honoka. I do need that. It's really hard for me to focus when you are around." She said boldly.

Honoka could only respond with a giggle, she wished to talk more but she knows that there's something else that's holding her back from speaking out her mind.

"Then, I'll see you later, ok?" Honoka replied enthusiastically.

"Sure, I'll be waiting for your answer too!" Tsubasa said before she took out an item. It looked like a miniature pilot.

"Answer…?" Honoka tried to remind herself of what she needed to answer.

"Bye-bye!" Tsubasa said cheerfully before she pressed a button on the mini-pilot like item. A circle of light appeared under her feet, then she disappeared like a data as the circle swiftly lifted her up.

"A-aa! W-Wait! Tsubasa-chan!" Honoka's shout is too late to stop her.

"Uh, she is gone…" she continued with sad tone.

"We can go too, Honoka-chan. Sebastian told me that he already put an Auto-Pilot in your bag." Ichigo said.

"E-Eh? He did?"

"Yep, I suppose you know how to use it, right?"

"Where will it take us though?"

"Back to the city, the auto-pilot is like the return button in the digivice."

"Aaah, I see. Hmm… what about the return button in digivice now? Where will it take us?"

"Uh, I don't know, I wouldn't want to take the risk though. This Digital World is unpredictable."

"Why?"

"Because, I heard that if you use that teleport function, it has chance of failing and you will end up missing a few parts of your cyber body. Then, if that happens, you won't be able to return into your real body."

"What's a cyber body?" Honoka asked.

"It's the body you are using now. You can't use digital world facility without a cyber body."

"Aah, ok, but where's our real body?"

"It's converted into cyber body, that's why you are affected by the Digital system. Also, I thought Kotori-chan already explained this to you."

"She did? When?"

"Uhh… Honoka-chan, why are you so forgetful." Ichigo the Agumon sighed

"Ehehe, sorry." The ginger girl giggled embarrassedly.

"Well, I suppose you are lucky that I can write in your Digivice memo. I'll start to write them down for you, ok?"

"Hehe, alright, thank you so much, Ichigo!"

"Now, we should go back and meet Kotori-chan and Umi-chan. They should be somewhere around the city."

"Ok!"

* * *

The Training Gym, File City;

Umi can't stop looking at her digivice's screen where the data of her Penguinmon is projected. Even though he is supposed to be in the age of evolution, he hasn't yet evolved into anything. She has been spending her time training him as hard as she could.

"My training doesn't fit that well for you, huh?" Umi said a little sadly.

"Maybe it isn't like that. Maybe my age to evolve is not today." Yamato the Penguinmon said.

"Really? I hope you're not saying it just to comfort me." Umi said.

"It's true, I believe your training is the greatest training in this digital world. Even better than Sakuya's training." Yamato said.

"Sakuya's? You mean, Eli-senpai's Renamon?"

"Yes, I contacted her whenever we are on break time. She told me about her training, it sounded very rough and complicated."

"What does she do, exactly?" Umi asked.

"She has almost no break time, she has to meditate when she is not training her speed or learning the basics of battle. Her master also gives her only half of her usual bed-time each day. She only eats meat once a day while the rest of her food menu are vegetables."

"It's actually a healthy diet." Umi said.

"Huh, really? I think I might die from that." Yamato said.

Umi giggled to his remark.

"You're right, penguins don't like vegetables."

"Fish is our life. Meat is fine too." Yamato replied.

"I got it. No veggies for you." Umi replied with a gentle smile.

As soon as the two were close to running out of topics to discuss, Kotori and her Suzaku as Birdramon came by.

"Umi-chaaan!" She called her with her cute voice.

"Ah, Kotori." Umi and Yamato turned to her.

"Suzaku!" Yamato greeted her.

"Oh! You're still a Penguinmon. I thought you've gone to your next evolution." Kotori said sadly.

"I know… it's strange." Umi replied. The two remained silent for a while before Kotori finally decided to take action. She checked Umi's digivice which Umi placed on the small table nearby and read her Penguinmon's status.

"Hmmm… This is good enough to get a champion Digimon…" Kotori said.

"Is it?"

"Yep, maybe you just need to try to go out and fight."

"Eh? Fight? But with what? I've fought about three or four wild Digimon from time to time!"

"Uh, well, it's just to fish for a motivation to evolve." Kotori said.

"Motivation to evolve?" Umi and Yamato tilt their head slightly.

"Yamato-chan, are you scared to evolve?" Suzaku asked.

"S-Scared? Uh… maybe, a little bit." Yamato replied.

"There you go, that's the problem. If you are scared to evolve, you have no motivation to evolve and you will never evolve." Kotori said.

"I-I… I see." Yamato nods nervously.

"It's not that bad, you just take another form. I thought you experienced it before?" Suzaku said.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what makes me scared to evolve." Yamato said sadly.

"hehe, Anyway, Yamato-chan, Umi-chan, Honoka-chan just replied to me a few minutes ago. She said she is already back in the city, but she and Ichigo went to a restaurant to eat their lunch. After that, she would love to discuss something."

"What will it be about?" Umi asked.

"I'm not sure, but it might be related to Digimon this time."

"Ah, right, seriously, we need to get out of this digital world as soon as possible. I'm very worried about our world."

"I believe they'll be fine. They have lot of good tamers. Anjuu-chan also told me that they're currently working on a communication system while Eli-chan might be working on the whole system itself."

"What systems?"

"I'm not sure, Anjuu-chan told me that they both have to work together to be able to unleash us from Digital World Rules. It's like creating a new database for our digivice system."

"Why is that? Are the systems bad for us?" Umi asked.

"It's not that bad, but, if we want to be able to move freely around this Digital World, we need to create a new database. Another theory is related to our previous attack. Anjuu-chan said that we might be attacked by a corrupted back-up data from the city of memory officials. We need to somehow over-power those while we have the chance in here. For you, Honoka-chan and our juniors, we might be able to brush them off easily since you started a few days before it happened, but, for them, it was a troublesome fight since they've been playing Digimon Online for months."

"Ah, I see where this is going. So we just need to grow as far as we could here and return to the city of memory before we step into the real world?"

"That's a yes, but not really. We need to play further act later since we don't know when we can leave this place. It will take a lot of days in the digital world to be able to create this new system, unless we experience a miracle, then maybe we can go home sooner than we thought."

"Is that so? Then, what can I do to help other than practicing?" Umi asked.

"Hmmm… I'm not sure, I think Eli-chan and Nozomi-chan said that they're fine with working on the system on their own. Nozomi-chan also said that she travels around the island to conduct investigations on this digital world system, she said she is like Eli-chan's assistant. Then, Kayo-chan and Rin-chan are practicing on their own and, sometimes, they go to the city to travel and help Nozomi-chan's investigation. Niko-chan and Maki-chan, they just got back from a chaotic experience. They said they were chased by a mega digimon. I suspect they to wandered off to a sewer or something worse… they've got a horrible smell all over their body when they got home. "

"A horrible smell?"

"Yep, now they are taking their baths at home. Lucky that Erena-chan finished the unfinished part of our bathroom yesterday."

"It has an unfinished part?" Umi asked.

"Uh, yep, it appears to be Niko-chan's work. She must've forgotten about it since she was so occupied with the idea of returning her Cooking Guild's test."

"I see, she isn't a disciplined type after all."

"Hehe, but anyway, Umi-chan. My main reason for being here is to take you to the restaurant since you haven't visited the farm this morning."

"To the restaurant? But—…"

"Save your digi-anchovies, Umi-chan, let's eat something decent. I don't want to lose to Honoka-chan!"

"Eh? Lose to Honoka?"

"Yep, she has been eating in the restaurant almost everyday even though she doesn't stay in the city for long. Tsubasa-chan paid for her too."

"Wow, someone needs to tell her to stop letting herself get spoiled."

"Don't do that, Umi-chan. It's fine… Tsubasa-chan isn't actually paying with her hard earned money anyway."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Umi asked.

"Ever wonder why our Digimon online use the real world currency? It's because bits are far too easy to hack. Tsubasa-chan and Eli-chan hacked them."

"W-what? How do you know?"

"Nozomi-chan told me about it. She just bought all the items in the shop last night."

"T-That's unfair!"

"She even said that if we happen to be staying longer than we thought, she will buy off the shop and run it until we can fix what we need to fix in this Digital World."

"What exactly do we need to fix again?"

"I'm not sure, honestly—But! Umi-chan! Stop asking me question and let's eat! I'm very hungry!" Kotori said before she pulled the warrior girl out of the gym.

"K-Kotori! P-Please be gentle!"

Suzaku and Yamato turned to each other, shrugged, and follow their tamers out of the gym.

* * *

Back at home;

Niko and Maki sat in the gazebo. They've finished with their baths and now they needed to clean the cards they brought one by one. The two were quiet until Niko decided to speak her mind.

"I can't believe this, we can't even use cards here? Lame!" the black haired girl sighed.

"It's your fault. You should've checked the facts before we did anything." Maki replied to her complaint.

"I thought it was because of my card engine! It was cheap and battery is low so, I thought your engine will work for us."

"Nozomi just gave me this engine and I haven't tested it myself. I don't even have any cards with me right now. How could you be so sure I can use my card engine?"

"Huh? Are you not smart enough to figure it out yourself?"

"It's not that, you moron, it means that I haven't even spared any time for it! Also, I should'nt have to clean this mess. It's entirely your fault!"

"Oh, Come on! You didn't even fight back there!"

"I don't want to touch the damn Digimon Waste! Even Polymnia felt as disgusted as I did!"

"But that brat was literally throwing shit at you! You had to fight back!"

"No way! I don't fight with that crap. If you want to fight with shit, you should go ask Rin or Honoka. I bet they would be fine even if it means that they have to roll in the mud."

"I don't want to roll in the mud, you idiot! I was saying that we should fight back with our power, not with shit! Either way though, Maki, help me get these cards clean so I can return it to Eli's workshop before anyone sees this."

Maki rolled her eyes and sighed heavily at her,

"Since I'm a kind person, then alright, I'll help you. Next time, I won't do that, ok?"

"Hah—don't worry. My luck isn't always this bad. Heck, if it's always this bad, people would've returned and witness this mess by now."

Maki was about to agree but, before a word escaped her lips, she could see Rin and Hanayo standing nearby and glaring at the mess on the table.

"Niko-chan, is that—…?" Hanayo paused as her finger pointed at the mess.

"D-Dirty gold cards everywhere-nya. What happened?" Rin asked with concern drawn on her face.

"O-Oooh! T-These? H-Haha, I found them on the ground!" Niko said nervously.

Rin and Hanayo turned to each other, wondering if they should believe that.

Maki sighed and decided to drop everything and walk to where Rin and Hanayo stood. Niko quietly looked at the red haired girl, wondering what she is about to do.

"Ah, Niko, you look busy, huh? Nice cards, but it would be better if you clean them up." Maki said without a single flaw in her act.

"Y-You…!" Niko stood up, trying to throw one of the cards at the red haired girl but, before she was able to do that, Kotori and Umi passed by.

"Ah! Everyone! That's a coincide—…" Kotori pauses when she saw the mess in front of Niko.

"We were looking for our digivice charger before—…." Umi paused too when she sees the same mess.

"I-I can explain this!" Niko said still with her nervous voice.

"Let me help you. Niko-chan stole Eli's cards and tried to go on an epic adventure, but epic fail is all she got." Maki said bluntly.

"O-oi! Maki! You traitor!" Niko complained.

"Aah, that sounds very unfortunate." Suddenly, Anjuu's voice is heard nearby. There's also Erena and Tsubasa staring at the mess in front of the black haired little girl.

"Here I thought I was about to deal with another shit, but it looks like this one has no shortcut." Tsubasa commented.

"This is bad, we shouldn't have seen this." Erena said.

"Y-yeah, right… can you all pretend that this never happened?" Niko said.

No one responded to her.

"A-Actually! Ahahaha, I'm so lucky, can each of you help me clean this mess before it's too late?" she said with the fakest begging cute voice she ever made.

"Ooohhh! Everyoneee!" A familiar voice is heard from nearby. Angel, who had evolved into a white cat-like digimon with green gloves and long slim tail came by. The girls turned to her.

"Did anyone see Eli-chan's card set? Nozomi-chan has been looking for it in Eli-chan's workshop but she can't find it." Angel said.

"Nope! No one saw that!" Niko said loudly.

"Oh, that's too bad! Eli-chan is currently trying to hack the card engine to work and she needs all of her cards to test it. She told us that she kept it inside her workshop!" Angel said.

"Actually, Angel, you can see it with your own eyes if you are sharp enough to notice." Maki said.

"O-oii! Maki!"

When the little girl protested, everyone synchronized their gesture to show what Angel needed to see.

"Ah… Are those—….?" Angel paused when her eyes saw the mess.

"Ooohh! Nozomi-chaaaaaan! I found the cards!" she shouted immediately.

"Wh-whoa! Angel!" Niko tried to stop her.

"Nozomi-chaaaan!" Angel ran off from them while the rest of the girls quickly used their items to teleport away, except for Maki who decided to stay.

"G-god damn it! Maki! Help me!" Niko said.

"Excuse me? Help you? You didn't help me when your Chibby took away my Polymnia."

"Huh? You should say that to Chibby, he is cleaning our stuff with your Polymnia somewhere inside the house!"

"Uh-huh, and again, she is stuck with your digimon. You need to do something about that." Maki said.

"G—gghhh! What do you want, huh?"

Maki smiled at her reaction.

"Well, all I wanted is: make him apologize to Polymnia for being rude."

"Fine! But get me off this mess!"

"Promise?"

"I promise, damn it!"

"Good." Maki smile wider.

"Damned princess…" Niko mumbled.

"What did you say?" The red haired girl turned with a frown on her face.

"N-Nothing!" Niko smirked awkwardly.

Maki squinted at the little girl. She was about to say something, but Nozomi and Angel arrived.

"Nikocchi, Maki-chan, did you two find Ericchi's cards?" the purplenette asked as she ran closer to the two girls.

"Ah, actually, we were the ones who borrowed it." Maki said.

"Oh? I didn't know. You should've told me earlier." Nozomi replied.

"Niko-chan is helping me understand about card effects and abilities. I hope you don't mind if we borrow it a bit longer."

"That's fine. Just take it to the Tournament hall when you're done, ok? Me and Ericchi will be waiting on the 50th floor.

"Alright, no problem." Maki nods.

"See you later!" Nozomi said before she used an item to teleport away. Angel stayed in her place and gazed at the two girls with her innocent eyes.

"Angel, you're not going with your tamer?" Maki asked.

"Lady can help her out. What about you two? Need help with cleaning?" Angel asked kindly.

Maki remained silent as she turned around and stared at the little girl to answer to the question just now.

* * *

The File City's farmland;

Hanayo, Rin, Kotori, and Umi walked to the farm. Yamato and Suzaku followed behind them as they chatted with each other.

"haah— and we were so close to witnessing chaos." Umi said.

"Hehe, I guess we can charge our Digivice's battery later, huh?" Kotori said.

"Or, you can use mine. I kept them in the farm." Hanayo said.

"Yeah-nya! Also, Leon and Mary should be there to serve our lunches!"

"Is it ok for us to take part in your lunch?" Umi asked politely.

"It's fine-nya. We were about to ask some people to have lunch with us. We got a lot of things to eat today-nya!"

"I see. Then, we all should eat together." Umi replied.

"Yeah-nya!" Rin cheerfully replied.

They finally got closer to the corner field. Leon and Mary awaited them with a lot of roasted meat served on the plates. Leon has already changed into a humanoid Lion-like Digimon while Mary into a Sunflower-like Digimon.

"Ah, Kayo-chan! I tried to roast them. Am I doing it right?" Mary said.

"Let me see." Hanayo said as she moved closer to the set of plates. She took the small knife next to it, sliced the roasted meat and peek into the middle.

"Yep, it's perfectly done. Good Job, Mary!"

"Ehehe, thank you!" Mary replied cheerfully.

"The rice is also done nicely, I tried it." Leon said.

"Really? That's great!" Hanayo said.

"Of course it will be done nicely! Kayo-chin is the one who made it-nya!" Rin said.

"There, Rin-chan! Don't appreciate me too much!"

"Hehe, but Kayo-chin is very skillful on cooking rice-nya!"

"Rin-chan!"

Rin giggled as a response, she can see the timid girl blush madly.

"You two are getting along so well, it's nice to see it." Umi said politely.

"Yeah, it makes me a little jealous." Kotori said.

"Why are you jealous-nya?" Rin asked

"Because one of my best friends started to prefer someone else." Kotori replied with a bitter smirk.

"Oh…right, Honoka-chan." Rin and Hanayo replied with concern.

Umi sighed at their remark.

"Even though we know that Honoka and Tsubasa are still trying to get along, it still made me uncomfortable when she didn't respond to my messages. It's like we're separated with a huge distance we don't want to have." She said.

"Yeah, exactly what she said. Also, Honoka-chan better have a champion Digimon by now. She wouldn't have any excuse like Umi-chan since she is personally guided by an S-Rank tamer." Kotori said.

"K-Kotori-chan, a-are you angry?" Hanayo asked

"Nope, I'm just stating my mind. It's like saying that she better be good enough after she neglected her best friend's messages." Kotori said.

"Oh… ok."

"Hehe, she already responded to my message, so I'm fine for now." Kotori replied with a little forced smile.

"Alright. We should invite her too." The timid girl suggested.

"She told me that she will be here soon. We planned to dine in the restaurant before but without charging our digivice's battery, we might not be able to pay the fee once we are done with the menu browsing. That's why I directed Honoka-chan to go here instead of the restaurant." The Ash brunette girl replied again as she showed how close to zero her digivice's battery registered.

"A-ah, that looks horrible. Either way though! We better charge it soon! We might need it for something else." Hanayo said.

"Yep! We surely do! Everything in the Digital world needs a digivice!" Kotori replied cheerfully.

Soon after her response, a very loud shout is heard from a distance.

"Ooooiii! Kotori-chan! Umi-chaan!" a ginger girl running toward them.

"There she is." Umi said.

"Hehe, sweet. We can have our food soon-nya!" Rin commented.

The energetic girl stopped with her Ichigo catching up to her.

"Haa—we're not too late for the main course, right?" Ichigo asked.

"We haven't started." Umi said.

"Oh, you haven't? That's great!" Honoka replied.

"Yeah, but you better report some good news about your training, Honoka-chan." Kotori said.

"E-Ehh? Wh-what report?" Honoka recoiled.

"Your Ichigo, why hasn't he become a champion yet?" Kotori frowned at her.

"E-Erhh… I… I don't know?" The ginger girl averted her eyes in embarrassment.

"Ho-no-ka-chan!" Kotori spelled her name with unfriendly emphasis.

"I'm sorry! I really don't know why he hasn't evolved! Tsubasa-chan also said that she feels strange about it!" Honoka clapped her hands together.

Kotori and Umi turned to each other before they sighed heavily.

"Well, Honoka-chan is Honoka-chan. I guess I shouldn't be surprised if you are slacking here and there." Kotori said.

"But I wasn't slacking!" Honoka said.

"Really, though, I haven't got my Penguinmon evolved too. I wonder if it's really our fault?" Umi asked.

"Hmm… Like I said, Umi-chan, you didn't get any S-Ranked player to guide you. Eli-chan doesn't seem to be helpful since she stayed in the Tournament Hall for like… forever." Kotori replied.

"Do you think Eli-chan got to evolve her Renamon? I think Tsubasa-chan said that it will be hard for someone like her to evolve a Digimon if she isn't bound to their heart." Honoka asked.

"Do you truly think that Eli-chan isn't bound to her Sakuya? She is a high-ranked player after all, you never know about how much progress she made until now." the Ash Brunette replied.

"Yes, I agree. Some people doesn't express their feelings through sweet words, they might be harsh outside but quietly passionate about what they do." Hanayo commented.

"Eh? Quietly passionate?" Honoka tilted her head slightly.

"Yep, Kayo-chan and I tried to visit the Tournament hall for a while now. It was supposed to be a delivery to Nozomi-chan." Kotori said.

"How was her training?" Honoka asked.

"Hehe, I have no idea but it seems Sakuya really enjoyed her time being disciplined and trained harshly." Hanayo replied.

"M-Masochist?!" Honoka smirked.

"Of course that's not it, Honoka!" Umi hits her friend's head gently.

"E-Eh?!"

"Being trained harshly has its own charm. The feeling of working hard and being specially seen are very relieving. It makes some people feel like they have all the time in the world to progress further." The ocean blue haired girl replied gently.

"Hehe, Umi-chan loves working hard after all. She is really nothing like you." Kotori replied.

"But, I love working hard too!" Honoka replied as she puffed her cheek.

"When is this 'working hard' Honoka-chan? You need to prove it." Kotori said.

"Hnnggh… Well, maybe we should duel, just like what Tsubasa-chan suggested."

"Duel? Then, I assume you need to challenge Umi-chan? She is still in the same rank as you after all." Kotori said.

"That's fine by me!" Honoka replied.

"Alright, fine by me too. But let's eat and take a few minutes of break before we fight." Umi said.

"Sure! That sounds good!" Honoka nodded cheerfully.

* * *

The Tournament Hall;

Eli and Nozomi stood near the training gym on the highest floor of the tournament hall. It is said to be the VIP Gym, which isn't used by anyone but the topmost ranked Masterless Digimon.

"This gym looks perfect already. I guess we can open this to the public?" Eli said.

"Well, Tourney Greymon said that he doesn't need it to be open to the public and that he keeps it as the special room for the winner. Also for his special maintenance worker I guess?" Nozomi replied teasingly.

"Sakuya has made plenty of progress, hasn't she?" The blonde said as she turned to the resting nine-tailed fox-like Digimon alongside with black cat-like Digimon. There's a sense of satisfaction drawn on her face as she crossed her arms proudly.

"I would say so, but I guess you need to go outside sometime. I sacrificed my outdoor time for you so you should sacrifice your indoor time for me too." The purplenette said as she raised two digivices.

Eli giggled at her remark.

"Alright, take me out, honey. Also, I think I'd love to hold my own digivice this time." She continued.

Nozomi remained silent, her gaze reveals how worried she is.

"What's with those judging eyes?" Eli pouts at her.

"Is your arm fine with it?" her girlfriend replied with face full of concern.

"I'll endure it." The blonde girl replied confidently.

It took a while for the purplenette to decide before the light blue digivice was finally handed to her girlfriend. However, before Eli was able to hold it for more than a second, a bright light sparked and lit up her hand with its strange power.

"Ericchi!" Nozomi called her name right at the same time the digivice fell down to the floor. It woke up the black cat-like Digimon and the fox-like Digimon.

Both tamers stared at the circuit-track-like light that appeared on Eli's arm while the Digimon appear to be surprised to see what happened.

"Ericchi…" her girl called her concernedly. The blonde didn't respond as she still trying to endure her pain while the two Digimon stayed in their place in silence.

"I'm sorry. I know you already told me that you want to retire. Yet I pushed you into this again." Nozomi whispered as she held the blonde's arm.

"It's fine. You were right, Sakuya was neglected enough and I was too stubborn to move on." Eli whispered back to her.

"Yeah, but, you need to pay attention to your own safety. This looks worse. Maybe you should be in the real world soon."

"I'm fine, Nozomi. Everyone tried to push me into this and you want me to do this too, right?"

"I do, but, for real, Ericchi, I'd change my mind if it really hurts you."

"It does, but I still want to do this. I don't want Sakuya to feel neglected again. It's for you and for everyone else who think the same way with you."

"Sheesh, Ericchi, don't overdo it. Why do you always overdo everything?"

"Because I want to do my best for the best girl."

The purplenette blushed slightly to her tease and it worsened as the blonde winked at her flirtatiously.

"T-There! But anyway, Ericchi, it seems like you can't hold your digivice yet, so, I'll hold it for you, ok?" Nozomi said as she picked up the digivice and hung it on her belt.

"Thank you, Nozomi." She replied gratefully.

"By the way, I wonder how your arm could react to the digivice but it doesn't affect you when you work on these engines? You seem to be fine when you're working on your laptop too." Her girlfriend asked as she gazed at the number of devices around the room.

"I don't understand too. Maybe there's something special about this digivice and the other devices in the City of Memory?"

"Maybe, but what makes it special?" The purplenette asked again.

"I don't know. All we know is that it's the data. We have no idea what kind of data that I react to."

"Such a mystery, we need to figure this out soon before something worse happen to you, Ericchi."

* * *

Meanwhile, in the µ's house.

Maki, Niko, Angel, Chibby and Polymnia took a lot of time cleaning up all the mess they. As promised, Polymnia received a lot of apologies from Chibby and they are now playing around with each other. They stayed around the gazebo, with Maki who seems to be satisfied with the knowledge she received about cards and its uses from her senior.

"So these cards are used for that, huh? Sounds great. Maybe I'll purchase some for myself later."

"For real…? Then, would you like to buy from me?" Niko asked with a hopeful gaze.

"Nah— I'm not that interested in common cards." Maki replied.

"G-gh! Don't underestimate these common cards! I mean, it's true that it's a common card but some of them are actually better than the rare cards!"

"Really? Then, why do Eli and Nozomi never keep the common cards?"

"Huh? Because you can't keep common cards! They are meant to be used and wasted! Also, it cost more energy to use silvers and above, you need a really decent card engine to be able to use it effectively."

"Meant to be used and wasted, huh? I don't believe that. If it's really true, then tamers like Nozomi and Eli should have plenty of common cards stocked somewhere."

"They must be carrying them around!"

"For real, you are trying so hard to convince me to purchase from you, huh, after you tried to scam me once…"

"It wasn't a scam! Nozomi bought it and you have seen it yourself."

"Well, alright, but I believe it was because you were trying to do something bad to me and karma struck you."

"Trust me now. Buy a pack from me and I can guarantee that you will get decent cards. Money back if it didn't contain a single decent card."

"I feel stupid doing this but since you are persistent, then… I guess it won't hurt to spend a few yen to make you happy."

"Yes, Good. You should do that." Niko smiled mischievously as she quickly searched in her bag.

Maki rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Here, take it." Niko handed a card pack to her.

"How much?" Maki took out her digivice.

"1000 yen. Cheap, huh?"

"heh, I still feel like you are charging me too much for a 'guaranteed to be decent' common card pack. But alright, I'll take it."

The two continued to process their transaction. Angel who had been quiet was curiously waiting for them to finish their trade.

"Done. Now give me the pack." Maki said.

"Surely! Thanks for purchasing!" Niko replied cheerfully as she handed the pack to the red haired girl, but before it touched her finger tip, Angel quickly snatched it.

"H-hey! Angel!" Maki protested.

She would have said something else but, when she saw what Angel was trying to do, she decided to remain in silent. Angel unlocked the pack for her then handed it back.

"Oh, thanks." Maki said as she accepted it.

"Tee-hee, I always had the urge to try unlocking it!" Angel said.

Maki smiled at her and this time it's her turn to open the pack and show everyone around her what she got from the pack.

"Oh!" the rich girl raises her eyebrow.

"These are…!" she took out the set of common cards with a gold and some silver cards included in it.

"Ah! Nice! Congratulations!" Angel said.

"W-wh-what the heck?" Niko smirks at what her eyes see.

"Thank you, Niko-chan! You are truly the best! I need to go meet Nozomi to upgrade my card engine!" Maki said cheerfully before she quickly walked away from them. Polymnia, who noticed her tamer walk away, decided to follow her as well.

"Hehe, you are truly a magical merchant, Niko-chan." Angel appreciated.

"T-t-thanks." Niko still smirking at the event that unfolded.

"Maybe I should open one for myself." She continued as she took out the last card pack in her bag.

"Let me help you!" Angel said cheerfully. Niko nodded and handed her the card pack. Soon after it was unlocked, Angel returned it to the black haired girl.

She opened it up and is surprised with what she sees.

"W-whoaaah! I'm really lucky!" She said as she sees a single gold card among the common cards.

"Wait!" she squinted.

When she read the name of the card, it says: _Vaccine Power Up Plus-Plus!_

"God-damn it! I can't even use this card! Heck! This is the most common of the most common gold-cards! It won't sell more than a rare silver!" she ranted as she threw the cards to the floor.

* * *

The File City's farm;

Honoka, Umi, Kotori, Hanayo and Rin are finally finished with their meal. Their Digimon seem to have finished their meals long before they did and they we're all hanging out around the farm-land helping Hanayo's Mary plant more meat. Rin and Hanayo joined the Digimon a few minutes after they finished their meal while the second years decided to lounge around the seats.

"Aaah, that was a nice meal." Honoka said.

"Hehe, I miss this kind of feeling. Honoka-chan, you spent too much time with Tsubasa." Kotori said.

"E-eh? Was it bad?" Honoka asked.

"Not really, it's just that it annoys me when you decided to ignore all my text for many Digital World days." Kotori said.

"She is right, even though you are with someone you like, you should be still paying attention to us too." Umi said.

"Yep, it makes me so worried so you better reply to me later, ok?" the ash brunette added.

"Hehe, I'm sorry. But speaking of that…" Honoka seemed to be a little down.

"What's wrong, Honoka-chan? Did something hurt you?" Kotori asked, full of concern.

"N-No, it's just that, I…" She pauses.

Kotori and Umi patiently waited for her to continue.

"I need to confirm my feelings towards Tsubasa-chan!"

"What do you need to confirm?" Umi asked with her polite tone.

"Yes, what else do you need to confirm, Honoka-chan?" Kotori asked curiously.

"U-uh… you two are saying it like I don't need to confirm anything."

"Hehe, well, Honoka-chan, It's obvious that you really love her." Kotori said.

"But, what kind of love do I have for her? I mean like, do I want it to be like Nozomi-chan and Eli-chan?"

"Hmmm, you mean like, a couple of true lovers?" Umi tried to confirm.

"Yes! That! Do I really love her that way?"

"Honestly, I have never felt that kind of love too. So it's hard for me to tell." Umi said.

"Eh? Really, Umi-chan? I think you are extremely romantic, I thought you know a lot about love." Kotori said disappointedly.

"Uhm, Kotori, if you are thinking that I have a lot of knowledge about love through poetry, then no, I have never really researched for love poetry nor experienced that kind of love at first hand." Umi said.

"Hehe, that makes me feel glad. Rivalries are always a bit too bloody for me." Kotori said.

"E-Excuse me Kotori? What does that—…"

"Honoka-chan! You should try to ask for advice from Nozomi-chan." Kotori cuts in.

"You think Nozomi-chan will know?"

"Maybe. She is Eli-chan's girlfriend after all, right? She has the experience you need to know about."

"Hehe, alright then!" Honoka replied cheerfully.

"Kotori, please answer my—…!"

"Oh—by the way! You two should duel each other soon. We can't waste too much time for unnecessary details!" Kotori once again interrupted Umi's question.

"Aaah! Right! We need to duel, Umi-chan!" Honoka said.

"Y-yes, that's true, but–!"

"Alright, what are we waiting for? Let's go to an open space and begin!" Kotori said energetically.

"Ayeee! Let's goooo, Umi-chan!" Honoka cheerfully pulled her friend away from their seats.

* * *

Back in the µ's house;

Inside the Guest room, Erena and Anjuu sat with their digivices' screens expanded around them. They seem to be looking at the result of a specific research. Anjuu's Lalamon has turned into a sunflower-like Digimon called Sunflowmon and Erena's Ryuudamon has evolved into a bigger dragon-like Digimon called Ginryumon. They were sitting down, holding their own notes when Tsubasa walked in to the room, along with Sebastian who was barely able to enter the room.

"How is it going?" She asked.

"We both found a way to return to the real world without going through the City of Memory, but…" Erena pauses as she sighs.

"…it may only work for us." She continued.

"What do you mean?" Tsubasa asked.

"The way for us to return to the real world is to use the new system that Ayase and Toujou developed and our power and popularity are enough to fuel us back to the real world." Erena said.

"Wait-wait, can you explain this 'power' and 'popularity' you are talking about?" Tsubasa asked.

"To put it simply, because we are popular, we have enough people searching for information about us digitally. Our information are fully secure in plenty of media which will serve as our 'save points' while our cyber bodies travel through the data fibers." Anjuu answered.

"Then about the power, our Digimon will move us all through the data fibers. Even though they are only champion right now, they already have their data saved in those save points and we will be able to load it with ease. We may be able to use the way you and Ayase re-created your Digimons' physical body through history and use their power, but then, some of them are not even decent tamers before they came into the Digital world." Erena added.

"The evolutions through using cards are not strong enough to move them from this place because, apparently…" Anjuu pauses as she stood up from her spot with her Digivice. She approached Tsubasa and showed her a specific map.

"This is the depth of the Digital World. We went through those rough places in seconds with Mastemon's power." Anjuu continued.

"Then.. can we just make Toujou raise her Mastemon?"

"No, sadly. Her Mastemon received a lot of buff from being in the City of Memory and their status as a couple also drastically raised their power but, in here, those systems aren't working and the new system will require a lot of power source to apply that." Erena explained.

"That's hard, huh? I guess this is where we need them to work on being idols while raising their Digimon." Tsubasa said.

"Yes, even though they might not be able to have enough power, they can at least have more save points for themselves. Then, at the peak of their popularity, we should be able to go off to the real world. After that, we need to find a way to apply our new system to the entire world. Next, we invade the city of memory and reveal the corruption to end their reign." Erena replied.

"I see… is there anything else they need to know?" Tsubasa asked.

"I assume Eli-chan and Nozomi-chan already know about this. They might be less supportive about the idea of popularity though. Knowing Eli-chan, she will probably push them to raise their Digimon instead of focusing on gaining a lot of save points. Other than that, they will require a lot of training and supplies." Anjuu said.

"Yes, also, popularity can be spread through Digimon but, even with all the Digimon in this city, it will not be enough to support them to reach the real world. They need a pull from the real world itself and the only thing we can send from here is data." Erena added.

"So they have to make music videos and send them to the real world, huh?" Tsubasa tried to confirm.

"Yes… and the only account that can spread information at lightning speed is Ayase's account. She has got a lot of followers in her social media through her high-rank player title and other decent records, then, Toujou might be popular as a merchant as well." Erena said.

"Don't forget about Nishikino Maki. She is pretty popular among musicians. She has a little bit of the stalker group's attention too." Anjuu added.

"Basically, just spread through any account they have, right?" Tsubasa said.

"Yes. Then, about the phenomenon you were asking before, Tsubasa…" Erena pauses as she browses through her tabs in her digivice's expanded screen.

"About why Honoka's Ichigo can't evolve, it was because there's a strange data that corrupted his evolution line. She needs to somehow break through it by triggering a burst evolution. There's a small risk, but, it will be worth it as she should be able to evolve normally in the future."

"Burst evolution, huh? Then I suppose she is on the right track already." Tsubasa smiled proudly.

"Just don't let her overdo it. We don't know what this strange data will do if it breaks." Erena said.

"More like, don't let her do it more than once in a short interval. The data reaction is still unpredictable." Anjuu said.

"Well, what can a data do anyway? If there's a massive digimon that appear, we can always drag it to the Tournament hall and fight it. I have recorded each of your Digimon data too." Tsubasa said.

Erena and Anjuu turn to each other for a moment and sighed.

"I appreciate that, Tsubasa, but, truly, if the massive one is the volume instead of the size, then we will screw up everything. It will be better for us to prematurely use our new system and dispatch to the real world to escape." Erena said.

"And Premature system is always bad. Bugs will probably interrupt us all." Anjuu said.

"It also means that we are ruining the digital world by opening a huge crack in it. We wouldn't want to do that to the Digimon, do we?" Erena said.

"Hmm… you are right. This is indeed a lot more complicated than I thought." Tsubasa placed her thumb under her chin. Suddenly, Sebastian who stood outside the room turned around as if he sensed something strange. Ginryumon and Sunflowmon also felt the presence and they are reacting furiously.

"This feeling…" Sunflowmon said.

"What's wrong, Neisha?" Anjuu asked.

"Neisha? Is that the nickname you got for her?" Tsubasa asked.

"Shush, Focus, Tsubasa. It's not the right time to chit-chat." Erena said.

Neisha the Sunflowmon seemed unresponsive as she focused on detecting the presence.

"Neisha? Are you ok?" Anjuu asked with concern.

"Anjuu, there's a spy in this house. Our activities are being read." Neisha replied.

"Tatsuya, what about you?" Erena asked her Ginryumon.

"This might be too late, but, we need to drop our activities now and do something else." He replied.

"Haha, what with that, we shouldn't worry that much. It's probably only Nozomi or Eli's doing. They built this house after all." Tsubasa said.

"No, Tsubasa. This presence is a lot stronger than them." Sebastian said.

Tsubasa was surprised to hear her Digimon say it. It truly means that it's a very serious problem.

"Who else is allowed to enter this house other than them?" Anjuu frowned.

"More like, who else is capable of breaking through the barrier around this house? Even the most capable hacker wouldn't be able to do that without sounding the alarm." Erena said.

And suddenly—…

* * *

 **Working on the final check for the next chapter!**


	14. Ch14: Double Data

**Alrighty, last update for this week. I'll be working on the climax chapter then ending!**

 **Please enjoy it~**

* * *

It wasn't a loud explosion.

It was a very swift zap of unknown light dashing out of the room. Sebastian, who stood in front of the room, could feel his body being shoved away before he witnessed a flash of light in a specific shape darting away from him. He fell on the floor and caused a slight quake from his weight.

"Sebastian!" Tsubasa called to him out of worry.

"What was that?" Anjuu stood up to check what she saw for less than a second.

"It looked like a Lucemon in his Fall down Mode, but not quite." Sebastian said.

"Looked like a Lucemon in his Fall down Mode?" Erena wondered.

"Yes, I swear, there are characteristics that makes her look like a Lucemon, but she didn't completely resemble a Lucemon in fall down mode as I remember." Sebastian said.

"Could she be… that official Honoka talked about?"

"That official with Lucemon as partner, huh?" Erena confirmed.

"Yes, I heard she was able to enter this home. Which means she might be our visitor just now."

"If that is so, then we might be in trouble right now. We can't let an official know about this plan." Erena said.

"Don't worry about that. If it's Heidr you are talking about, Nozomi already told me about her." Anjuu said.

"Oh?"

"She is our support. Her job desk is to get us a power source. I don't know how it works, but Nozomi said that they are collecting the source and we shouldn't bother doing the same unless we find a small, transparent, sparkly cube."

"Transparent sparkly cube?" Tsubasa wondered.

"Yes. I don't know what it exactly is but I happened to find one in my bag. I think it came from my back-up data chip, the one that I found from the defeated copy of myself." Anjuu said.

"I found one in my bag too and it also came from my Back-up data chip." Erena said.

"Hmm… those are from memory, huh? Then you gave them that?"

"Not yet, even though I'm sure that it's the right item they are seeking, we still don't know what exactly they would do with it."

"Ah, you are right. After all, it came from your back-up data chip so you would want to know more about it first before you decide to hand it to her." Tsubasa said.

"We should help them to look for it to see what exactly it can do to their project. Nozomi even paid 500 bits for each so I suppose it's a benefit for her." Erena said.

"Haha, I don't need bits. But sure, that sounds good." Tsubasa said.

"Well, I wouldn't be surprised if Nozomi paid 500 for each, she is very generous and I bet she doesn't even need to worry about bits just like you, Tsubasa. Her girlfriend probably hacked the bits for her too."

"True that!" Tsubasa continued to laugh.

"But you shouldn't do that to your crush, ok? If you truly want her to grow, then you shouldn't spoil her." Erena said.

"Hah, you don't need to tell me about that. I knew that!" Tsubasa said.

"Really? I heard from Kotori-chan that you were spoiling her in the restaurant."

"Haha, there's nothing wrong with trying." Tsubasa replied playfully.

"Well, did this 'not-a-wrong-attempt' works somehow?"

"Not quite. She doubted her feelings towards me." Tsubasa smirked a little bitterly.

Erena and Anjuu sighed at her response.

"Then this attempt might be too bold. Even though both of you are bold and straightforward, you should tone down a bit and ask for advice from an experienced person." Erena said.

"Hahaha, I doubt that will work out." Tsubasa replied with an awkward laugh.

"Could you be too embarrassed to admit that Eli is truly more senior than you?" Anjuu asked.

"G-gh… No, I knew that she is a lot more senior in that aspect."

"If you can't shake that pride off, you won't be able to grow up." Erena said.

Tsubasa averted her eyes.

"Who's being prideful here? I was just sure that I can do this by myself." She said.

"A wrong step is a chaos in the world of love, you know. You can't reset it and the possibility to fix is low." Anjuu said.

"You'll be stuck in a forever friend-zone." Erena added.

"Haha, maybe that's relative. Ayase Eli is an asshole yet Nozomi still loves her."

"Is she really an asshole to her? That's not what I heard." Anjuu said.

"Really, ask for her advice. There must be something wrong if she doubted her feelings towards you." Erena said.

"Sheesh, fine! I'll do that!" Tsubasa said before she stormed out of the room.

"Tsubasa, wait!" Sebastian said before he ran off to follow her.

Erena and Anjuu couldn't say anything before the two disappeared from their sight, they only could sigh to Tsubasa's instant act.

* * *

The City Outskirts;

Umi and Honoka have prepared for their battle—again— and their digimon, Yamato and Ichigo, seem to be ready as well. Kotori and Suzaku stood still by the side of the battle area since the two were about to serve as the judge and jury for the battle. They could also have asked Hanayo and Rin to join, yet the two first years and their Digimon appear to be busy taking care of the farm.

"Alright, Umi-chan. How do we start this fight again?" Honoka asked energetically.

"Just—…get in position, Honoka. We will fight after we gesture to each other."

"Like a wrestling then?" Honoka asked again.

"Yes—just… do it already!"

"Uh… alright!" Honoka replied as Ichigo set-up his battle stance.

"Ok, Ready….?" Kotori asked to start the fight.

"W-wait-wait! Do I get to use items?" Honoka asked again.

"Yes, you can, Honoka!" Umi replied.

"Then, let's start!" Honoka said before Ichigo suddenly charged his fire and blasted it towards Yamato. The Penguin-like Digimon fell down.

"I said—After we gesture to each other!" Umi yelled.

"Oh!" Honoka realized that she forgot that detail.

"There are no do-overs! Get up and attack, Yamato!" Umi yelled out loud.

Yamato jumped back up and blasted a very quick ice needle towards Ichigo. The reptile Digimon covered himself with his strong arm.

"I-it looks like we don't need to signal for them again, Kotori-chan." Suzaku said.

Kotori sighed softly.

"I guess so." she said.

Agumon once again blasted his fire to Yamato while Yamato used a freezing breath to block it. They continued to repeat the same action over and over until they started to run out of stamina.

"This isn't going to work. Plan B, Yamato!" Umi said as she threw a Floppy Disc to recover his stamina.

"D-Don't give up, Ichigo!" Honoka said as she threw a recovery disc to him.

The battle continued into a fist-fight between Ichigo and Yamato. Even though they looked like they are truly serious on trying to hit each other, it somewhat looked like two kids fighting for some stupid reason.

"What the hell is that, Yamato?! Are you seriously fighting?!" Umi shouted angrily.

"Ichigo, don't lose!" Honoka cheered for her Digimon.

"Yamato! I said, fight properly! I already taught you how! Don't fool around!"

Yamato nods and he kept trying his best to fight like how he was taught. Though, if he had to be honest, he already tried and it's so irresistible when Ichigo's fighting without even trying to behave like he is fighting seriously. The flailing arms and the random yelling make them look even sillier.

"Yamato!" Umi shouted with an angrier tone.

"Ichigo!" Honoka shouted full of enthusiasm.

A spark lit in their minds and it felt like they know what they should do.

To evolve into a better stage of their life.

Ichigo can feel the burning spirit from his tamer. The energy and everything that makes him want to reach victory. He can feel his body becomes larger, then his head became covered with a hard brown shell with three horns. He can see blue stripes appearing on his yellow skin. Even though his arm doesn't grow as much as he grew the rest of his body, he can feel his claws are strengthened.

"Aah! Greymon!" Honoka called the kind of Digimon Ichigo became from his evolution.

Then to his opponent,

It feels like something has gone right, though it's not quite the right thing that should be happen.

A dark atmosphere enveloped Yamato, the anger that was delivered to him cause him to evolve into a creature of darkness. A Black wolf-like Digimon with white stripes.

"Ohh! Black Garurumon!" Kotori said his kind's name.

Once again, Umi was surprised to see what Yamato became. However, when she looked to her ash brunette friend, she remembered that she must accept whatever she has turned her Digimon into.

After all, she is the one who raised him into such creature.

"Aah! You two managed to evolve them!" Kotori said happily.

"Yup!" Honoka replied cheerfully.

"Yes…" Umi sighed with a forced smile. She tried her best to not show the anger that she has on herself.

Though, before the two about to continue to fight, something sparked again as if they are about to evolve once again.

"E-Eh…!?" Honoka, Kotori, Umi and Suzaku were surprised.

When they thought they are about to see another evolution to happen, a static sound buzzed along with a moment of digital glitch.

"W-what is that?!" Honoka and Umi said.

"That's…!" Kotori paused.

"Digital shift! The server is crumbling!" Suzaku said.

"E-eh..?" Umi and Honoka were flustered.

Suddenly, a bigger spark appeared before a few pixels crumbled. They can see another dimension through the crumbled pixels. Then, a holographic red dragon-like head appeared.

"R-Run! Everyone! Run!" Kotori shouted to Honoka and Umi as she prepared her cards and machine to fight against this incoming creature. Honoka, Umi, and the newly evolved Digimon quickly took turns escaping but before they could actually escape…

"Ggrrhgh…!" Yamato stopped.

"Yamato!" Umi turned back to him.

Honoka and Ichigo paused and paid attention to what exactly was happening to Umi's Digimon.

A static sound is heard coming from his body then it almost looked like if he is doubling.

"Wh-whoa! H-He is doubling!" Honoka commented.

"Yama—…!" Umi suddenly felt something has gone wrong with her body.

"U-Umi-chan?" Honoka called her out of her concern.

Her body began to make a holographic appearance, then her digivice reacted to a data flow that appeared on her body.

"Umi-chan!" Kotori began to feel concerned too as she heard Umi's painful moan.

"Kotori! Activate the card now! It's coming!" Suzaku tried to keep her focused on the Digimon that appeared.

"A-Ah, ok!" Kotori tried to activate her card but her card engine didn't make any reaction.

"E-Ehh…!?" Kotori and Suzaku lifted their eyebrows in surprise.

"A-Ah! I forgot! The cards aren't working here!" Kotori said.

"R-Right! Should we retreat too?" Suzaku asked.

"B-But! If we do that, what will happen to the city?!" Kotori asked.

"Then, we should just take his attention?" Suzaku asked.

"G-good idea, make sure you don't get hit though, ok? I get the feeling that he could destroy us in one hit!" Kotori said.

* * *

Meanwhile in the Tournament hall;

"So… what's this little change in the security, Ericchi? I'm sure that this digital world would have more Digimon using the services than a common human being." said the purplenette as she watched her girlfriend maintaining the ID engine.

"Like, reading the Digimon's specific ID instead of their registered ID?" the blonde replied as she continued tinkering with the engine.

"Yep, I'm sure it will make people like you have a difficult time breaking into the data base." Nozomi said.

"Haha, I would know how to break in since I'm be the one who created the new security system. Also, I don't plan to let anyone control a Digimon's evolution anymore. They will evolve because they can and devolve when they think they need to do so."

"So you want to completely limit the security system?"

"Yes, the security will not touch any of their evolution line anymore." Eli replied.

"Sounds good. You are really into setting these Digimon free. I'm happy, Ericchi." Nozomi said with her sweetest smile.

"That's why I'm—…!" Eli suddenly stopped. She looked like she was hit by something sharp on her arm, yet no one can see anything.

"Ericchi?" Nozomi worriedly called to her.

"N-Nozomi… my arm…"

The purplenette quickly approached her.

"Strange, I didn't activate your digivice at all. Is there anything around here that could trigger—…!"

"Nozomi-chan!" Lady shouted all of a sudden.

"What's wrong, Lady?" Nozomi turned to her Black-Cat Like Digimon who stood near the resting Kyuubimon and kept her eyes on the window.

"I feel a very strong presence in the south west of this Tournament hall." Lady said.

"Then, could that be….?" Nozomi paused as she looked deeply at her girlfriend.

"The data that caused this pain must be nearby. We need to figure it out." Eli said.

Nozomi nodded.

"Wake Sakuya up, Lady. We are going to a fight. Call Angel too, we need her." She said. Lady doubted for a second before she responded with a nod and prepared to do what she was asked to.

"We need to use the special card engine we made, Nozomi. I feel like this is not the usual kind of Digimon." Eli said.

"Is it complete?"

"Not really, I still can't tweak the battery usage so you better use your cards wisely." Eli said.

"I see. Then I'll take my extra batteries with me."

"You have those? Nice. This is why I love you, Nozomi." Eli smiled.

"Yup, I'm always ready to back up any of your plans!"

* * *

At the house of µ's,

Erena, Anjuu and their Digimon sensed the presence through the data reaction that caused their digivices to mess up.

"This data reaction… could there be a creature from the depths of the Digital World?" Erena asked.

"Don't tell me, did Honoka-chan used her burst evolution too much?" Anjuu said.

"Sheesh, where's Tsubasa when you need her? We can't contact her with our digivice." Erena complained.

"I get the feeling that she will sense it and stop by on her own, so we better get a move on." Anjuu replied.

"Then we trigger the burst evolution of our digimon, Break the official security barrier and mess up even more? No way! We need to solve this without a fight!"

"There's no way to do that. Let's not hide behind these 'official' bars forever. We can break them all and figure out the truth behind it. If possible, we can meet up with this not-a-digimon creature who claims to be the owner of the power that The City of Memory uses for their system."

"Are you insane? That creature looks as evil as your counterpart."

"What do you mean by 'my counterpart,' Erena? Do you want me to put _that_ Pepper Sauce in your Lunch Box?"

"I was saying that you are so kind and if you ever have a counterpart, you will be the most evil being that ever existed."

"Is that so? Then it's a compliment? Sounds so complex but since you mean it, I'll let you off the hook."

Erena sighed in relief.

"Anyway, we need to go and help out. There are some people outside, yes? Niko-chan, Maki-chan, Poly-chan, Chibby-chan, then, Angel-chan? We take them with us too."

"Do we all have to?"

"It's better to go together since we will truly need to help each other. "

"Don't put a beginner in danger."

"Don't underestimate a beginner."

Erena sighed again. This time it was because she is tired of arguing with Anjuu.

* * *

The Farm Land.

Honoka and Ichigo are now having trouble to deciding which Umi is the real Umi and which Yamato is the real Yamato, but not because they are acting the same way. It's just that they both aren't sharp enough to realize that the emotionless Umi is the fake Umi.

The real Umi is quiet and keeps her eyes on her double and the fake black-wolf-like Digimon.

"U-Umi-chan! Please say something to me! I don't know which one is the real you!" Honoka said.

"Quiet! Honoka!" the real Umi yelled at her while the fake one seemed quiet.

"Why did I get copied like this? What's the big deal?" she continued with a bitter smirk.

Before Honoka was able to reply to her, one of the Black-wolf-like Digimon growled and started to attack the other one. It became clear which the real Yamato is since he decided to be defensive and countered the attack.

"W-whoa! H-Honoka!" Ichigo said.

"Yes?" Honoka replied innocently.

"I-I think we shouldn't step in!" Ichigo said.

"W-what?"

"What are you talking about?! Step in! Help me out!" Umi said.

"B-but! They look dangerous!" Ichigo said.

"Of course they are! Why did you suddenly become a coward?!" Umi said.

"U-uh, then, go! Attack them, Ichigo!" Honoka said loudly.

But before Ichigo was able to give any response to the command, Kotori ran to them.

"Aaaah! Everyone! We need to warn the city!" Kotori said.

"Why?" Honoka asked.

Before Kotori was able to answer, they spotted Suzaku getting thrown to the center of the city, then a really-really huge and destructive dragon floated above them.

"W-what the hell is that…?" Umi took her attention off her Digimon that is still trying to fight off his copy, while Umi's copy remained still where she stood.

"J-Just, run!" Kotori quickly ran to the two tamers and they began to run along with Ichigo and Yamato. The Dragon-like Digimon roared so loudly before he decided to aim at Yamato and Umi's copy.

The two copies were unresponsive but Umi unfortunately witnessed how her copy was eaten by the Dragon-like Digimon…

"My… copy…" Umi whispered to herself.

"J-Just ignore that, Umi-chan!" Kotori said.

"S-Sorry…" Umi said.

"Suzaku!" Kotori shouted when she saw her Digimon lying near a building. It seems that the chaotic event has warned the city before they were able to say anything about it. Honoka and Ichigo ran in to the city while Umi and Yamato stopped to watch over the Ash Brunette who tried to nurse her Digimon with items as quick as possible.

"Umi! Get on my back!" Yamato said before he charged in, lever her with his muzzle and perfectly landed her on his back.

They ran until they found out that Honoka stopped when she met with Tsubasa and her Dark Dinosaur-like Digimon near the entrance of the city.

"Megidramon…" Tsubasa called the name of the monstrous Dragon-like Digimon.

"What we should do, Tsubasa-chan?!" Honoka asked.

"We fight. That's all we can do." Tsubasa said.

"Eh, but, I've already evolved Ichigo."

"There's no turning back, Honoka. Your evolution might be the one that caused the security system to break."

"W-what does that mean?" Honoka tried to ask for detail.

But before she was able receive an answer, Megidramon caught up to them. Umi and Yamato stood at a distance while Suzaku and Kotori were nowhere to be found.

"Kotori…" Umi said softly, worried about what may have happened to her best friend.

On the other hand, Yamato noticed a hint of a fiery winged creature flying in the sky, behind the specific Dragon-like digimon, when Tsubasa and Honoka decided to jump in and face the huge dragon.

"She is fine, Umi. Let's focus on how we can defeat this." Yamato said.

"There's no way we can defeat that, Yamato." Umi said.

"What are you saying, we can defeat that! You broke my evolution's limit once, you can do that again!"

"But how? I don't even know how I did it!" Umi asked.

As they argued, Honoka and Tsubasa already gave their digimon the command to fight with this specific creature.

"We can do this, Honoka! Let's raise our spirit and break the evolution together!" Tsubasa said.

"E-Eh, I don't really get it, but alright!" Honoka replied.

Megidramon blasted a huge fire against them and Ichigo and Sebastian quickly took a defensive stance. Luckily enough, since they had the upper hand as vaccine Digimon, they didn't take a one-hit-kill damage. They survived—but they were not quite in a good state.

"T-Tsubasa, this is crazy. We only took a very little damage and yet he is so close to killing us both!" Sebastian complained.

"Endure it then!" Tsubasa said before she threw a large recovery disk to Sebastian, then she threw another to Ichigo.

"W-We are about to be the meat-shield?!" Ichigo complained.

"Attack him! Yamato!" Tsubasa said loudly.

"M-Me?" Yamato was so flustered that he forgot what he was about to say to his tamer.

"I'll unmount you first." Umi said.

"R-Right…" Yamato replied before he let his tamer go down from his back.

"Watch out!" Ichigo said before he ran to take the damage from Megidramon which was supposed to be aimed at Yamato.

"Whoa, nice one, Ichigo!" Honoka gave Ichigo a thumbs up.

"Another one incoming!" Sebastian said as he ran in to defend Ichigo. Tsubasa quickly threw another Recovery disk to both of them.

"Nice one, Tsubasa-chan!" Honoka gave Tsubasa a thumbs up.

Tsubasa winked proudly to the ginger girl as she caught sight of the bluenette giving a command to her Digimon.

"Yamato! Ice Needles!" Umi said.

"I don't have ice needles anymore, but…!" Yamato took a deep breath.

"Ice cannon!" he shot Megidramon with his ice power from his mouth.

"Ooo! Nice one, Yamato-chan!" Honoka said.

"Instead of appreciating us, Honoka, why don't you do something else?!" Umi scolded her.

"E-eh? What should I do then?" Honoka asked.

"Like, go somewhere to check the others' condition!" Umi said loudly.

"Alright!" Honoka said before she ran off.

"W-wait! Honoka! At least—…!" Tsubasa paused. Honoka is already gone from her spot. Seeing how the ginger girl energetically left, Tsubasa smiled then turned her focus back to Ichigo and Sebastian who took turns protecting Yamato while he kept shooting his ice canon to Megidramon.

"Well, this will take a while, but let's do our best to support them, Umi!" Tsubasa said.

"Yes, let's work together!"

* * *

Honoka ran off to the center of the city.

She immediately found Jijimon who had gathered the city Digimon, though most of them looked like they haven't fight with anything.

"Ah! Jijimon!" Honoka called him.

"Oh! Aren't you Honoka?"

"Yeah!"

"Awesome, could you happen to help us with these? Some of the Digimon in the city have begun to fight other Digimon that suddenly appeared after they broke into our Dimension."

"O-oh, so, that big one is not the only one?" Honoka asked innocently.

"There's a bigger one than that one?" Jijimon pointed to the north of the city.

The Arena hall is blocked by a huge and dark demonic Digimon with long arms.

"That's Diaboromon, a catastrophic digimon. I heard that the arena hall has two of your friends guarding the place along with some other strong mega Digimon who lives in the city. The rest of them are taking care of the endless spawn in the south."

Honoka turned her attention to the south and she could see how crowded it looked like. She can see Angel; Maki, Niko; Polymnia, who already evolved into her next form, a rabbit-like with majestic decoration and black gloves; and Chibby, as the ghost-like Digimon with witch hat. Meanwhile Angel is in her white cat-like Digimon form. Since when have they been in those form, though? Honoka had no idea and it might be because she has not been going home to look at her friends.

She feels bad for not knowing and she also feels bad as she realized how serious this case is. With all the chaotic fights around the city, she wished that she had an idea on how to make this stop. It's already been many hours in the real world and now she misses living in peace.

But, come to think of it, she did ask for excitement before. Wouldn't it be her fault if she stumbled into this? Then, would it also be her fault to drag her friends into this mess?

Is it truly her fault?

She couldn't think of anything to fix, but she wants to fix this mess. There has to be something she could do! Something that could make everything turn back to normal. Is it strength?

The strength to destroy and overpower the enemy. A great power that will solve everything.

"Your greatest desire is what we need."

A voice is suddenly heard through Honoka's digivice.

"Power"

A static sound buzzed from her digivice before she felt as if her ears were buzzing with it.

"Whaa!" She quickly took off her digivice from her head.

But the buzzing sound still remained. Where is this sound coming from?

She felt herself begin to duplicate.

"H-Honoka-chan! What's happenning to you?" Jijimon asked her.

Honoka tried to answer, but her body wouldn't allow her to just yet.

"Honoka-chan!" Jijimon called her with concern.

A few moments pass and the the duplication is complete. Honoka can see another her right in front of her eyes. She has a plain expression, empty glance, her digivice is off and she has static pixels around herself. It's like a glitch happened to her.

Then, at the same moment, a loud roar was heard in a distance before Tsubasa, on top of Sebastian's head, and Umi, on Yamato's back, ran in to the two Honokas and Jijimon. Megidramon was floating above them

"Honoka! We lost Ichigo!" Tsubasa said before she stopped and realized that there are two Honoka in front of her.

"T-Tsubasa-chan! I'm here!" Honoka waved to her.

"Th-there's no time to think! Sebastian, take them all!" She said before Sebastian snatched both Honoka and Jijimon who was unfortunately taken with his jaws. He ran to the east where it wasn't too crowded.

"G-Gaaah! Can't you be nicer?!" Jijimon complained.

The condition worsened as Megidramon's destructive behavior crushed the city's buildings. On the other side of the city, the catastrophic Diaboromon turned his attention to Megidramon who just passed his territory.

Nozomi and Eli, who were in charge of taking care of him, were flustered for a second, but they quickly realized that Diaboromon is after Megidramon and their friends.

"Ericchi! They are after Honoka and the others!" Nozomi pointed out.

"Drag them here somehow! I can't move from here!" Eli said out loud as she pointed to her Kuzunoha who lingered behind the green holographic walls. She looks damaged, but she stood as a prepared fighter.

"We can't, we have to chase them, Ericchi! Just use Sakuya! You said you wanted to train her, right?" Nozomi said.

"But…!" Eli pauses. Her eyes focused on her Sakuya who looked somewhat fit enough to jump into battle.

Sakuya didn't say anything but she nodded to convince Eli to believe in her.

"Forget about the past already, Ericchi. We need to do something and it's not staying here! This World would probably crumble away and we won't even be able to step out of here anymore!" Nozomi said.

"I knew that! But there must be another way than to fight those! We need to act smartly!"

"If you are smart enough to understand that, then let's get out of this place. Let's seek for the others and take them with us!" Nozomi said.

Eli bit her lip as she tried to think as quickly as her brain allowed her.

"We need to move together, fight together, and defend each other." Nozomi continued.

"If that's all we need to do, we can use a club call. I'll just take over Honoka's Digivice system again so that we are all teleported to where she is." The blonde said.

"That's my Ericchi! Now that you have thought about the solution, we need to inform the others. Kotori must be somewhere else by now since I texted her about something a while ago. We still need to inform the rest of the girls and I need my Angel to return to my side so that I could use a card on her."

"If it's only a mount you are seeking, then why don't you use me?" Lady asked.

Nozomi turned to her Digimon. She has never expected her Digimon to demand something that she has never assigned her to.

"I think you should sit back and watch." Nozomi asked.

"There must be something better than sitting back and watching!" Lady answered back to her. There's a hint of jealousy in her voice, though Nozomi remained oblivious while Eli somewhat understood what she was trying to say.

"Even if I have to evolve into something ugly, even if I have to get through something rough, there must be a form that I can take, right? A form that could be of use for you. Maybe you can ride on my back if I'm in my ultimate or mega form. I don't move that much when attacking!" Lady continued.

Nozomi shook her head.

"Lady, it's not the time for us to argue. We need a short cut and we will use Angel's Magnadramon form. We don't have much battery supply to do an experiment." she explained.

Lady smirked bitterly.

"We will try to look for your form in another time." Nozomi continued.

"No, we can try now. There's a line that she can crash into and we will only need two common cards." Eli said. Lady looked somewhat excited when the blonde said it.

"Ericchi, what are you even thinking? Will her evolution be able to keep up with this mess? Angel's Magnadramon is the best we can use, plus, she is vaccine. She can fight both of them."

"You told me to listen to Sakuya but you won't listen to Lady? This is her favor, plus, she doesn't have to be the one who fights, right? Angel can take her place. You can even use Ophanimon instead of Magnadramon."

"Fine then, but listen, Ericchi, even though I told you that I have batteries, I can't guarantee that we have enough power to do an experiment. I didn't calculate anything about this experiment."

"I'll help you to re-calculate it. But anyhow, use one De-digivolver, then dragon-data injector. We will get a Devidramon and we can ride on her back."

"A Devidramon?! You are about to evolve my cat into a devil-dragon?!" Nozomi exclaimed.

"It's true they look ugly, but hey, I think they are pretty cool and we can ride on them. That's what's important now, right? I'm sure you can evolve Angel into an Ophanimon with only the Burst-breaker card and Holy Spear card." Eli replied.

"It's not like she will not be helpful anywhere! There's a time and place, they have to know their turns! That's how I always raised them!"

"And I don't want to stay quiet and watch Angel fight on her own!" Lady said.

"Why are you being like that all of a sudden?! It's always—…!"

"Cut it out, we need to be off now!" Sakuya cut in as she kept her eyes at the mess on the other side of the city.

"Sakuya is right, we need to be going now before it gets worse." Eli said.

They finally agree and run to work with what they needed to do.

* * *

On the southern side of the city;

Maki, Niko, Hanayo, Rin, Anjuu, Erena and their Digimon are fighting the massive number of random wild Digimon that appeared through the broken pixels. They can see the other dimension better and clearer as more Digimon crashed through the pixels. It scared them to even speak about it. Alas, they don't even know if they should talk about it as they also realized that their home is no longer reachable at this time.

The other dimension keeps expanding its door and they began to doubt if they have the chance to get through this. Even with plenty of supplies, even with two Sunflowmon working at the back of the line as support, three vaccines on the front row, and a somewhat useful virus in the middle to secure the two data Digimon behind him, it still feels impossible to be able to keep up and see through the end of the seemingly endless wave.

They need to retreat, or so they thought, before Erena and Anjuu received a call. The two accepted it at the same time.

"Erena! Anjuu! I'm with Honoka right now!" Tsubasa said.

"Yes, and?" Erena asked back.

"Come follow me to the west! We are running from Diaboromon and Megidramon!"

"W-what kind of bullshit you are saying?! You can't be running around with two of the most destructive digimon!"

"Did you not even see them before? Well, either way! Just come to the west, ok? Drop those critters. They won't stop appearing. Just run as fast as possible!" Tsubasa said.

"Can't you just call us with club call? We will teleport to you instead!" Anjuu suggested.

"Right, I can do that. Hang on!" Tsubasa replied.

"You're going to leave us?" Maki asked.

"Uh, Maki-chan, we already got a club call from Honoka-chan." Hanayo said.

"E-eh?! We did? When?" Maki quickly checked her digivice.

"Hah! You are not paying attention, are you?" Niko said smugly.

"You're the only one who didn't accept the invitation-nya…" Rin said.

"E-ehh?! O-ok!" Maki replied.

"Hurry up, Maki-chan! We only have 5 seconds left!" Hanayo said.

"Alright!" Maki quickly accepted the club call.

* * *

Further away to the east,

Kotori and her Suzaku flew to a deserted area, the land is infertile and she could barely see any sign of greens among the barren field. As soon as she noticed a presence that she needed to find, she signaled her Suzaku to land as gently as possible.

"Uhh… what was her name again, Heidi?" Kotori asked her Birdramon as they flew lower.

"Yes, Heidi…"

"Alright, so… Heidi-saaaann!" Kotori shouted.

The purplenette beauty turned around, the two colors of her irises dazzled the Ash Brunette for a second before she regained her consciousness. To be honest, she never believed that a human being with Heterochromia iridium actually existed.

"Can I help you, Valkyrie?" Heidr replied with her charming smile.

"E-Ehh…? V-Valkyrie?"

"Oooh, my mistake! You are just a Phoenix Trainer, alright. I was mistaken since you appeared like a Valkyrie to me. Your cute voice sounded like the Valhalla bell, your gaze shines like a polished armor, and your smile is worth a sunshine."

"E-Excuse me but, I have an emergency message from Nozomi-chan!" Kotori tried to keep their conversation in track.

"Hmmm? What does that blasted witch want from this skewered zombie?"

"B-Blasted witch?! Skewered zombie?! U-Uh… Anyway, the city is under attack. Another dimension appeared after a few pixel glitches happened. I don't know what triggered it though!"

"Aahh… I see. So that really sounds like an emergency. Why she didn't contact me directly?"

"N-Nozomi-chan told me to fetch you since you might need me for something?"

"Ohh sure, so that's what she wants. Alright. Let me think of anything you can do for me."

"Errrh…Heidi-san, please be quick. I don't think they can last fore—…"

Kotori paused as she sees a club call on her digivice.

"Oh…."

The Purplenette giggled.

"Well, I guess I need you to accept that call." Heidr said.

"But…?" Kotori is flustered.

"Just accept it, little bird. Don't make the Captain wait!"

Kotori was still confused about what she just said, though she decided to accept the call without any other question. Right before the ash brunette and her fire bird teleported away…

* * *

 **See you next chapter!**


	15. Ch15: Seeking for The Truth

**2 chapters left everyone! Additionally, I will add 1 extra and another extra on _From If To I'm Sure_. **

* * *

The two destructive Digimon are aggressively attempting to crush Tsubasa and the others.

With two Honokas in Sebastian's arms, Tsubasa couldn't really tell which is the real Honoka and which is the fake one.

"I-I'm here! I'm the real one, Tsubasa-chan!" one of the Honoka shouted.

"Really? What about the other one? Are you Honoka?" Tsubasa asked.

The other one remained silent.

"She is not! She is my copy!" the other Honoka shouted.

"Ohh! So, what do I do to her now?" Tsubasa asked.

"It seems that those two Digimon are after her copy. We can try throwing that one away and see what happens." Umi said.

"Eeeh?! Umi-chan! Even though she is my copy, it's still creepy to see her being eaten!" Honoka said.

"Hmm… I wouldn't want to do that too, but if it will save us some trouble…" Tsubasa paused to think.

"Alright, I get it. This way will work." She nodded.

"W-what will?" The real Honoka asked.

"Sebastian! Throw the copy to Umi!"

"W-what?" Umi became flustered but she didn't get the chance to refuse since Sebastian threw Honoka's copy to Umi immediately after Tsubasa's command.

Umi focused her attention to the two destructive Digimon that were after them and she saw that they both turned their attention her as soon as she caught Honoka's copy, which also proved that her theory is right. But what can be done right now? If she threw this unresponsive copy of Honoka, she will be eaten and those two destructive Digimon will rampage until another copy appears.

She needs to be a distraction.

That's all she could think of And, without even uttering a single word, Yamato ran faster and switched to another direction. It seems that the two have the same thought. It makes Umi glad but also troubled by the fact that she is similar to a creature that is pictured to as a creature of darkness.

Then again, she must not care about that. There must be a reason behind the image she got for the Digimon that she raised; a reason why the result of her serious feelings is pictured as something dark; a reason why her discipline and education are pictured as virus instead of vaccine; and a reason why she can't get the blue majestic wolf she wished for.

Umi remembered what she heard when she was under the duplication effect. She recalled that there was a voice saying something to her:

 _Your Greatest Desire is what we need._

"Dignity"

She reminded herself.

What is that voice trying to tell her?

Putting all those thought aside, Umi kept her distance from the two monsters. She didn't stop until a specific woman appeared right in front of her, along with her Lucemon. In a blink of an eye, Lucemon blasted a very powerful skill and destroyed both the destructive Digimons. Umi didn't get any chance to look, but she is glad that she is safe along with the copy of Honoka on her arm.

What to do with it now?

Umi is about to call that heterochromatic woman, but she never caught her name. She needs to ask, but she doesn't know how she should do it. Fortunately for her, Kotori showed up.

"Ah! Kotori!" she called her best friend instead.

"Heidi-san! They are over there!" Kotori shouted someone else name. Umi's turned to the heterochromatic woman. Now she knows her name, but what's the point of calling her name again?

"Umi-chan! Catch me!" Kotori shouted before she jumped off her flying birdramon's back.

"W-wait! Kotori!" Umi couldn't help but catch the falling girl And, for that, she had to let go of Honoka's copy, which broke into fading cubes and left a transparent bright cube when it hit the ground.

"Ah! That's another one!" Kotori said before she quickly picked the cubes up.

"What are those for…?" Umi asked.

"This is what they are seeking."

"They…? They who?"

"They! Those Digimons from outside this dimension!"

"What are those exactly?"

"Nozomi-chan told me that these are memory fragments. For some reason, a lot of Digimon are re-programmed to eat these fragments and destroy it. They are created from the malfunctioning back-up data."

"Malfunctioning Back-up data?"

"Yep, when you do anything in this digital world, the data will be recorded into those fragments. It looks like both your and Honoka-chan's burst evolution triggered these data to be sent into your back-up file, but also broke into the security walls around this server. It's not a bad thing, though. Nozomi-chan also said that it proved Anjuu-chan and Erena-chan's theories. Now, all we have to do is to fight this one off, just like what Tsubasa-chan said!"

"S-so, we somehow 'did' something according to the plan?"

"Hehe, not quite. It's too early. None of us are ready with strong Digimons and Eli-chan hasn't done the research to make all of our card engines perfectly useable. We are all prematurely entering the cruel dimension!" Kotori said cheerfully.

"W-why are you so cheerful about it?!" Umi was flustered.

"Because! It seems fun!"

"W-what?"

"Oh, anyway! Honoka-chan and the others are going back to the area where we fought in order to find Ichigo. We need to join them quick before we go our separate ways. This Dimension is going to be destroyed soon and it will be hard to look for each other when that happens."

"H-huh?! Wh-why you didn't tell me that earlier?!" Umi complained.

Yamato doesn't need any command to act. He quickly ran back to where the trouble all began.

* * *

The crumbling Farm-land;

Some of the city Digimon have gone to a temporary domain that can be used until Eli is able to connect them with their incoming perfect domain. A-rise also settled up their track points to drag their team into the real world, but Honoka and the others have to complete their team before they can jump into the other temporary domain.

"Have you found him yet, Honoka?" Eli asked with hint of concern in her voice.

Honoka scanned around the area, looking for a hint of Ichigo's presence.

"I believe he is around and well, but, I'm not sure where he exactly is!" she replied

"Are you sure? You've been looking through that spot for a while now. We can't waste too much time. This world is about to crumble and these Wild Digimon are not going to give you more time than what our team can give." Eli replied as she pointed at the girls and their Digimon who are fighting with the incoming waves of wild Digimons.

Nozomi used her card to evolve Angel to Ophanimon while Lady stayed as Devidramon to carry Nozomi and fight off the weaker wild ones. Rin, Hanayo, Maki, Niko, Tsubasa and their Digimon tried their best to ward off the wild's attacks. Anjuu and Erena stood near an entrance to their first save point, making sure that there's no Digimon that tries to enter it.

After a while, Suzaku approached them while carrying a big bag of unknown objects. Heidr and Lucemon tagged along with her, also carrying bags of unknown objects in their arms.

Suddenly, all the wild Digimon turned their attention to Heidr and the others. They all quickly moved like mindless creatures chasing after the bags.

Lucemon quickly dropped his bag and channeled his energy. He blasted them off just as easily as how he blew up Megidramon and Diaboromon. Despite being massively cleaned up, new wild Digimon spawned through the broken dimension and once again went after Suzaku and the others.

"Hurry up! Find your friend's friend!" Heidr said. Eli and the rest of the girls nodded. They understand that they need to help Honoka look for Ichigo in the scattered area.

It took a while until Kotori, Umi, and Yamato caught up to them. Kotori quickly threw the one cube that she found off Honoka's copy to Heidr.

"Honoka-chan! Have you found Ichigo yet?" Kotori shouted when Yamato ran closer to the group.

"No, I haven't!" Honoka replied.

"There must be a way to summon your own Digimon, right?" Umi asked.

"There is and I did try! But he isn't responding!" Honoka said.

"Then, call him out!" Umi said.

"I did! Same result!" Honoka replied.

"What about your map? Did he show up there somehow?" Kotori asked.

"Yes! He is around here but he isn't!" Honoka replied.

"Alright, times up everyone! Gather up in that spot and we shall dispatch!" Heidr said before she, Lucemon, and Suzaku ran closer to them.

"Tsubasa! Come here! We need to get to the real world and warn the others!" Erena said.

"But… Ichigo!" Tsubasa replied with concern.

"Yeah! What about Ichigo?" Honoka said.

"He must be somewhere, but he will return to you, Honoka. Believe me." Eli said.

"What touching words from you, Ericchi. But you are not speaking from experience, are you?" Nozomi said a little teasingly.

"S-shut up, Nozomi! If her map says he is around here, then we just need to place our domain portal around this area. Hopefully, he is teleported with us. After all, he is part of her and she is part of him." Eli continued.

"I see… then off we go. Ichigo please come with me!" Honoka said.

Tsubasa knows that she has to be somewhere else in order to keep their plan on track. She ran to where Erena and Anjuu are, turned around to face the ginger girl's group and shouted:

"Ah! Right! Honoka! Before you go!"

Honoka remained silent as she looked at Tsubasa.

"How about my question before? Are you going to accept me as your girlfriend?" Tsubasa asked boldly, causing an uproar in the group. Honoka is dumbfounded by the question. Other than because she forgot about that question, it's also because she still has no idea about what being a girlfriend means to someone. Is it truly important?

Tsubasa looked at her with an expectant smile but, before Honoka could respond…

"Tsubasa! Get inside! We don't have time for that sort of thing!" Erena said as she pulled Tsubasa into the entrance. Anjuu giggled at them before the three and their Digimon, disappeared along with the entrance.

Eli noticed how flustered Honoka is, but truth to be told, it really is not the time to think about that. What was Tsubasa even thinking? Asking something like that out of nowhere will just make one flustered. Worst case, they can refuse her offer since it might annoy them instead.

There's always a time and place for everything. It's true that love can be forgiving, but love is also finicky. It can't be done perfectly without plan and luck.

Putting those thought aside, Eli gestured the group to gather closer together so that she can launch her domain and open the portal. With a shield set up by Heidr and Lucemon who blasts off all the invading Digimon, the group hoped for a successful launch.

The loading bar in Eli's laptop moved quickly, her arm also lit up brighter than usual which somewhat worried Nozomi. She wondered if it's still painful for Eli, but looking at how quick she can work, she thought that Eli might nolonger feel the same intensity of pain as before or if there is a chance that she is just already used to the pain in her arm.

When the loading bar finally filled up, the ground lit up and the pixels began to scatter as if they are moving into another dimension. Soon, when they no longer see any obstacles around them, Honoka spotted a black round thing laying on the ground. She quickly picked it up and watched it.

"Botamon! W-Wait! Is that you, Ichigo?!" Honoka said.

"Hnn…?" Botamon woke up from her slumber.

"Honoka-chan…?" he called her with sleepy voice.

The group was astonished by how the baby Digimon called her but, after a moment of thinking, they realized that the baby Digimon is the one they were looking for.

"D-Don't tell me?! Ichigo reverted into baby Digimon?!" Umi said.

"Really! There are two things you did that confuses me! First, how the heck are you are not girlfriends with Tsubasa yet?! Second, how the hell did your Digimon revert back into a baby Digimon?!" Niko said loudly.

"Eh…ehehe, I wonder too…" Honoka replied.

"I can help you answer the second question." Eli said.

Everyone turned their attention to the blonde.

"Three lives. The Digimon in our previous domain are given three lives. When they die three times, they will turn back into a Digi-Egg. There can't be anything lower than those digi-eggs, so when it is destroyed, it's over." Eli said.

"So our Digimon will not die as long as it isn't a digi-egg?" asked.

"Yes, that's why I decided to adjust this domain with that system, except I don't want them to reincarnate, we have to aim for the toughest result." Eli replied.

"This is only a temporary domain though, so it has a time limit. Once this domain stops moving, we will be moved to our real domain. Then after that, we will invade the City of Memory's system." Nozomi added.

"Tsubasa-chan suggested we make some videos and be popular in the real world so that we can have more save points. The more save points we have, the easier it will be for us to invade their server and solve the mystery." Kotori said.

"What mystery are we trying to solve?" Honoka asked.

"H...Honoka. Don't tell me that you don't understand what we are all dealing with right now." Umi said with an unfriendly smirk.

"Errh… I understand that we are stuck in this Digital World and planning to get out… but why do we have to invade the City of Memory server again?"

"B-because Digimons are appearing in the real world-nya!" Rin supplied.

"Y-Yes, and we can't be ignorant about that. We have to somehow return everything back to normal." Hanayo said.

"We suspect that those City of Memory suckers are behind this. They might have been toying with Digimons and humans just so that they can get more money." Niko said.

"Really, Nikocchi? You said that in front of an official?" Nozomi said as she gestured to the official who stood near them prettily. When Niko turned to her, Heidr giggled and waved like there's nothing happening.

"W-wha! Right! I didn't mean to hurt you!" Niko said.

"It's fine. Being a sucker isn't that bad." Heidr replied with a giggle.

"Sometimes I think she is a little drunk." Kotori whispered to Umi.

"K-Kotori…!" Umi sighed.

"Anyway, everyone… Heidr-san will help us prepare our real domain. Please work on making a video that might be popular enough to cause people to create save points for us. Idol video or whatsoever is fine, as long as you believe that it will turn out great." Eli said.

"Huh? You are not against it?" Niko asked.

"It's not like I'll be the first person to join. Nozomi and I will not join since we need to take care of something else for now." Eli said.

"I'll only be a support for you all." Nozomi said.

"Don't forget to train your Digimon though. There is no more day and night time in this domain but time is still running in the real world. That's why we have A-rise to connect us to the real world. Once they get there, they will contact us." Eli said.

"How long can our cyber body stay awake here? When do you think we need to sleep?" Honoka asked.

"No sleep is required. This temporary domain is set to keep us away from exhaustion. Just keep working. If you need to restore a Digimon's health, just come to Nozomi and she will heal them for you." Eli replied.

"Ah, it will feel like an actual game." Kotori commented.

"Except we still have a time limit." Umi added.

"How many days do you suppose we have to prepare for the invasion?" Maki asked.

"Approximately a week of free time and a week of serious combat preparation." Eli replied.

"That means we have 336 hours to prepare." Maki replied.

"We don't need any break time, so we can do a lot of things while we are here." Umi said.

"What if we can't be fully prepared in that time frame?" Hanayo asked.

"Then we are doomed. The Absolute Destroyer is going to complete her form and we don't know what she will do to our world." Nozomi said.

"Yes, Nozomi is right. AD is unpredictable, I can't guarantee you any safety." Heidr added.

"We better hurry up and work on the first thing to do : Form some groups and make our video. We really need to become popular." Niko said.

* * *

After a few hours of discussion;

They split into three groups: The Actor, The Engineer, and The Preparation Teams. Honoka, Kotori, and Umi are the Actors; Nozomi, Eli, and Heidr are the Engineers; and Maki, Niko, Rin, and Hanayo are the Preparations team. Each team has its own job-desk. While the actors are meant to prepare to be the center of attention in the video, the preparation team would work on their overall needs, and The Engineer team will work on the field's system.

Heidr helped Eli and Nozomi set up their House Area, which is still properly secured in their files in the new domain, Maki and Niko are preparing the needs of the actors while Rin and Hanayo are taking care of the Digimon's trainings. Even though the Digimon are already tasked with a schedule, they still require some supervision to help them understand the concept of each assigned task.

"Hnng… so each Digimon will have their own training focuses-nya?" Rin asked her best friend who understood the concept.

"Yep. Also, they will not evolve until we want them to do so!" Hanayo said.

"Aaah! That's back to the City of Memory's system!"

"Yep! Isn't it fun?" Hanayo said cheerfully.

"Hehe, to think that we will get something like that, it makes me feel strange! But then, Ihaven't experienced enough of the previous system-nya!"

"It's true! We're just tasting it a bit, but I guess this feels a lot more convenient!" Hanayo said.

"But are Digimons meant to be controlled-nya?" Rin asked.

Hanayo smiled a little bitterly.

"Hmm…maybe they are not…" she replied.

"Hehe, maybe we can just tell them to have free time instead of a real training?" Rin asked.

"Uh…so… we are going to…?"

"Play with them-nya!" Rin said cheerfully before she run into the Digimon who have been working on their own practices.

"Oh! T-there, Rin-chan!" Hanayo tried to catch up.

* * *

At another side of the place;

Honoka, Umi and Kotori are busy trying to prepare their outfits. They even have a few video recording tools set up where they are.

"Uhh…so we are going to make these outfits?" Honoka asked as she looked at the sketch that Kotori offered.

"Skirt lower than my knees, please." Umi commented.

"But, these are already very idol-like so we can't lower the skirt anymore! It will be hard for us to move around!" Kotori replied.

"Yep, I'll just agree with this uniform so that's a two to one vote! We are going to make these clothes!" Honoka said.

"Seriously though, why are we doing these again?" Umi sighed.

"To gain popularity! We better hurry up and create everything we need!" Honoka said.

"But, do you really understand the essence of why popularity is needed here?" Umi asked.

"Ehh…uhm… Not really! But, Tsubasa said that it will help so we have to do that! Also, even though it might look hard, I just believe that we can all do this! This is the only way we can raise our popularity."

"Do you think anyone would watch it?" Umi asked again.

"Maybe? Haha, after all, Tsubasa-chan and her team are popular because of this too!"

"Hehe, we just need to give it a shot." Kotori said.

"Sheesh, really. You two are so carefree about this. I mean, if it gets posted in the internet, anyone will be able to see it!" Umi said.

"That's the point though…" Honoka replied.

"Yep, that's the point, Umi-chan. It's to make everyone see it!" Kotori added.

"But, that will be embarrassing!"

"Stop being silly, Umi-chan! Should I remind you again that we are after the popularity?" The ash brunette replied to her.

"I…I know! But…"

"Now-now! Instead of being confused, Umi-chan, let's start practicing!"

"O…Ok?"

Then the three set up their positions and stayed silent for a few minutes until they realized…

"Uh…shouldn't we wait for Niko-chan and Maki-chan to make us music?" Umi said.

"R-right… and I need to tailor the clothes. Hehe… I got carried away…" Kotori said.

"Oh…so… what are we both going to do? Can we at least think about how we are going to dance?" Honoka asked.

"We can't think of that until we get the music. Should we check on Niko and Maki?" Umi replied.

"I think so…" the ginger girl nods.

"I'll just stay here and start tailoring the clothes, ok? It might take a while!" Kotori said.

"Alright, good luck!" Honoka replied before she and Umi walked to where Maki and Niko sat.

* * *

At where the two sat;

"Niko-chan! Maki-chan!" Honoka greeted them first.

"Ah, Honoka, Umi." Maki greeted them back.

"Hey, what's up?" Niko followed.

"We are here to ask about the music. How is it going?" Umi asked politely.

"Heh, we have no progress. My partner is so worthless." Maki smirked.

"Huh?! You're blaming me? It was your fault that you didn't want to take my suggestion!"

"Haha, there's no way of that kind of song and lyric would pass any musical standard. You might as well be popular as a clown instead of an idol." Maki replied.

"Huhh?! You are really annoying, aren't you?"

"Now-now, is there anything you made by yourself, though?" Umi asked.

"I can't show you yet. I'm not very good at writing lyrics so I might need a little more time."

"Then, maybe Umi-chan can help you!" Honoka said.

"M-Me…?!" Umi exclaimed.

"Yep, Umi-chan's poems are always so good!" Honoka encouraged her.

"Then write down the lyrics and I should be able to work the tune from it." Maki said.

"Hmmph! I don't want to believe you! You just rejected the lyrics that I wrote!" Niko complained.

"Huh?! Who the heck would want to sing something like _Niko Puri! Niko-Niko! Niko-puri! Yeah! Niko-Niko_!" Maki sang with brilliantly cheerful tune.

"W-whoah! You did make a song out of it!" Niko smirked at her.

"You are the only person that will sing something like that!" Maki replied with annoyance laced in her voice.

"Hey now! It's not like you will have to sing that with my name, unless you want to worship me as the number one idol in the galaxy!" Niko replied.

"Like what, huh? _Maki-Puri? Maki-Maki! Maki-Puri! Yeah! Maki-Maki?_!" Maki replied with a somewhat sarcastic tune.

"Ooo! Then my song should be like, _Hono-PanPan! Hono-Hono! Hono-panpan! Yeah! Hono-Hono_!" Honoka said.

"What the hell is _Hono-pan-pan_? That sounds so awkward." Niko said.

"It's not like _Niko-Niko-Ni_ is not awkward."

"Umi-Manjuu! Umi-Umi! Umi-Manjuu! Yeah! Umi-Umi!" Umi sang softly as she faced the wall that surrounded them. Despite singing in her softest voice possible, the way she acts like Niko's dance attracted everyone's attention, including their Digimon who stopped in the middle of the most awkward practice pose. She didn't realize it until she noticed the silence that enveloped the area.

"What the hell you are doing." Eli said coldly at her.

Umi's face turned red. She could scream so loudly for her stupidity, but instead of letting her embarrassment come out of her mouth, she lost her balance and fainted.

"U-Umiii-chaaan!" Honoka and Kotori quickly caught her.

* * *

In the real world;

The A-Rise reached their destination smoothly. At first, the people around the portal were panicked since they thought a chaotic Digimon would be coming out from it but, when they saw the A-Rise and their Digimon in rookie form, some expressed their joy and some expressed their worry.

"A-rise! Where you have been! We were overwhelmed here!" one of the men with a gold beetle digimon said.

"Sorry-sorry! We got a little trouble here and there! But anyway! Instead of attacking aimlessly, let's start to haul our power to attack one specified destination!" Tsubasa said.

"Isn't that what we all doing right now? We are going to attack that thing over there!" another tamer replied as he pointed to the tower-like building that created with a strange, root-like object with a black and white moving pattern.

"Wh-what the hell is that?" Erena asked.

"The official said, they sent the eaters to reduce that one specific creature's potential, but it feels like those eaters are just covering it without actually getting anyting done. Random strange Digimon are appearing from it!" another tamer explained.

Anjuu bit her lips and whispered,

"This is bad. We might need to delay our main plan to get rid of this thing from the real world."

"What's the condition?" Tsubasa asked Erena.

Erena quickly browsed on her digivice's web browser.

"Looks like that thing is a lot more popular than anything right now. This is really bad for µ's too. We need to get rid of it so that they can gain popularity." She said.

"You think we could change the media? It seems impossible in this kind of crisis." Anjuu replied.

Tsubasa remain silent to gather her thoughts.

"There might be a way to get rid of that thing with their help and find a way for them to come back to the real world after. I believe that people will get tired and will seek for entertainment once they are not overwhelmed by a huge fear." Erena said.

"So we just need to reduce the tension, huh?" Anjuu confirmed.

"That's it. We are going there!" Tsubasa said.

"Huh?" Erena raised her eyebrow as she glanced at Tsubasa.

"Erena! Evolve your Katsu ya!" Tsubasa said.

"It's Tatsuya!" Erena protested.

"Doesn't matter! Just evolve him and fly us to the peak of that thing!" Tsubasa said.

Erena sighed at her.

"Alright, just make sure you know what you're making us do, ok?"

Back in the temporary domain;

Their floors are still moving through the unknown circuit. Each of them are still working on their own tasks, especially Umi who is still trying to get over her embarrassing act and work as well as possible. While Honoka, Niko and Maki are chatting about practically anything, Kotori is working as fast as possible to finish the costume. Rin and Hanayo are also still helping out the Digimon in their practice's routine while Eli, Nozomi and Heidr are working on the system.

A few minutes passed before a call is received on Nozomi's digivice.

"Oh, Anjuu." Nozomi said before she immediately accepted the call and set it on loudspeaker.

"Halo! Nozomi-chan, we have a little problem here." Anjuu said.

"In the real world?" Nozomi asked.

"Yes! There's a strange tower-like building covered with the eaters… we might be able to clean it up a bit to see what's inside it but can your blonde darling help us identify it?"

"Sure, Ericchi can. What's the deal with it though?" Nozomi asked.

"Random Digimon are appearing from it."

"So that might be a spawner or the world's gap we need to know about." Eli said.

"Tsubasa-chan will send you some sample data she can hack out of it. Your job is to identify them." Anjuu said.

"No problem, I'll make this quick." Eli replied.

They waited for a few minutes. Even though each of the group were working on their own tasks, they still paid attention to the conversation.

"There, it's sent!" Anjuu said.

"Thank you. I'll work it out, please wait for a minute." Eli replied before she quickly typed in her laptop. While she is working, Nozomi noticed that her arm is lit a little brighter than before. She scanned the room and it seems that the group either had no interest on her lit up arm or were too distracted to notice it. Without giving it a second thought, Nozomi approached her girlfriend and obstructed the group's view of her arm.

Eli didn't bother to stop her and Heidr, who sat in front of them, seemed to be amused with the view. It's like she is a proud mother who is witnessing her daughter being lovely with someone who is worth more than the most precious diamond.

A minute passed and Eli came up with her result.

"There it is. It looks like the part you sent me came from the same part we detected from the creature we call 'Absolute Destroyer'." She said.

"Ah, so, this tower might be where the absolute destroyer is?" Anjuu asked.

"Maybe it's just a little part of it. What else did you find, Tsubasa?" Eli asked.

They waited a while for a response, but they understood since they can hear a few explosions and zapping noises.

"Well, Eli, you are right and wrong. You were right about the one who owns the part, but this isn't just her part! We found that creepy bastard taking her nice slumber inside, at the top of the tower, protected by a transparent dome. But the Eaters are covering it again so it's not that transparent anymore. We need City of Memory to get rid of those craps."

"Then we should cancel our plan to invade the City of Memory." Eli said.

"Eh? We should? But then… what about the Digimon from File City?" Hanayo asked.

"Yeah-nya! They are bullied by the people in the City of Memory, right-nya?" Rin added.

"Don't worry. it's not that we are going to be on their side. We will just pretend to be on their side until we can get what we want." Nozomi replied.

"Yes, we will play the victim and gain their support so we can finish that specific problem. After that, we will stab them in the back." Eli added.

"E-eh? Is that ok? I will feel bad since they might be hospitable towards us!" Honoka said.

"I know it's a bad thing to do, but… I guess I can't really say much about it. Sometimes we have to act smart instead of acting loyal," Umi said.

"The Digimon are tormented. If we defend the City of Memory, we are supporting them in milking more money off of this 'game' they made. The Digimon aren't meant to be treated like this." Kotori said.

"It's still quite a wonder to me but… perhaps the right thing to do is to destroy the City of Memory and return the Digital world into its real state. I mean, who the hell believes that wild and mindless Digimon exist naturally? They have to have written their own story and covered it with the thickest lies so that we appear to be the great heroes in their game." Maki said.

"Even though I still don't know what exactly those Wild Digimon are, I have to agree that they must be hiding a secret. We can unveil it while we are trying to gain their support to 'save' the world." Niko added.

"But honestly though, we have been killing each other before humans are there." Ichigo suddenly spoke. The girls were surprised and they all turned their attention to Ichigo.

"When I was de-evolved into this, some of my memory returned. I remember that there's something that happened before humans appeared in our Digital world." he continued.

Everyone remained silent.

"It's not like anything will be different without humans. To be fair, humans actually made some parts of our lives better. Even though we had to cause some of us to become a horde of mindless creatures, some of us have better lives than before. We don't have to worry about where we are going to live or what we are going to eat. We don't have to worry about how we can become stronger and what we will become. Those who are left behind are set free or become one of the Digimon who takes care of the other Digimon." Ichigo continued.

"But, don't you want to be independent and create a better life by yourselves?" Umi asked.

"We cannot create an idea. Anything that we call 'ideas' already exist somewhere within the servers. All of them." Ichigo replied.

"So, you are saying that Digimon don't have their own minds?" Honoka asked.

"No, we are created from fragments of data." Ichigo replied.

"Yet, it feels like you all have your own minds." Kotori said.

"We are created from your part." Ichigo replied again.

The group remained silent.

"Everything about us are just fragments of data created by Human beings. We are all unreal. The only reason humans are able to befriend us is because, after all, we are created from human parts. It's just like how a human befriends another human." Ichigo continued.

"That must not be true! I don't want to believe it!" Honoka said.

"But, Honoka, it's true. Remember how you created me the first time? You collected Botamon data. Some of the Botamon data caused me to have this knowledge and I believe some of us have this knowledge too." Ichigo explained.

"Do they?" Honoka asked before the group turned to the practicing Digimon.

"I have that knowledge, but I don't see the point in telling that to everyone." Polymnia said.

"Ah, right. Lunamon are not created from data fragments. They are special digimon. All of them have the same data source, except the owner's data is injected to it and this causes them to have varieties." Heidr commented.

"Heidi-san, we forgot that you were there!" Kotori said.

"Oh! True! We have an official here, why did we never ask you anything?" Umi said.

"Well, I wouldn't answer your question if I never heard it. But I like guessing, so sometimes I answer before you ask." Heidr replied with a playful smile.

"Say, though, Heidr-san… we have never heard you talk about yourself. Can you tell us a bit while explaining what exactly happened before The City of Memory was created? I've read the theories that Eli and Nozomi wrote for us, but I'm curious to hear it from the official's lips."

"It's not much different from their theories, though there are a few mistakes. For example, about the digital shift…"

"I haven't written anything about the digital shift other than what already happened in the real world." Eli said.

"That's where you are wrong because you never wrote it." Heidr replied.

"Please explain it to us." Maki said.

"Alright, so let's start from the theories. The reason why you are all planning to invade the City of Memory is because you think those humans are booting File Island out of the big digital world, right? You all wanted to help them so that they can return to where they belong?" Heidr asked.

The girls nodded.

"Part of it is true, the city of memory never existed before humans created it. They are created in a domain just like how Eli creates this new domain we are in right now. Before it became crowded, there was no Digimon in it, only a system designed to fit in the game they were making. Before this Digimon Online existed, there was another Digimon online that was left behind after a little incident happened. The place where The City of Memory stands now used to be Asuka City, not File-island." Heidr explained

"E-eeh!? Not File Island?" the girls are surprised.

"Yes, but it's not like everything about File Island is wrong. The File Island is truly the place that's considered as the depth of the Digital World. It's one of the earliest Digital Worlds that ever existed, but it's just a small island, unlike the other parts of the Digital world which are absolutely a lot bigger than that island."

"Then, the other part of the File Island is where The City of memory is?" Hanayo asked.

"Nope, that's wrong. Do you believe that Digital World only has one surface just like the real world?" Heidr replied.

"The Digital world is indeed round like our world, but it is layered. The earlier a layer was created, the deeper in the Digital World it exists in." Eli said.

"The only reason why everyone always says that the depth of the Digital world is dangerous is because the Digimon in it have grown stronger than the Digimon which were born later." Nozomi added.

"Interesting." Maki nods.

"I have a question though. How can humans travel between worlds? Also, if a human is actually the one who creates ideas in the Digital world, why are there only some parts of the Digimon that resemble humans?"

"Because humans are not the only creatures that exist. Plus, humans also create fantasies. To help you understand the concept, let's just say that the Digital world is equal to the internet. Anything that you do inside it is recorded in the system, and it is shaped into anything and carried over to many others. As you share your idea, you will also let another person to gain another idea and they create another creature. It goes on and on, creating layers and layers of the Digital World until it finally became how it is right now." Heidr explained again.

"Whoah, that enlightens me so much-nya!" Rin said.

Heidr giggled at her remark.

"Well, just for fun, let me tell you that the Digital World can be your bridge to another universe. A world where you existed as another person. It could be better, could be worse." She said.

"E—eeh?! So that means, I can meet another me-nya?" Rin asked.

"Of course not literally, silly head! She means that digital world lets us create our own character. It's like role-playing in a forum!" Niko said.

"Ah, I understand-nya!" Rin replied.

"Human desire is recorded in this Digital World, yet they are not meant to be fulfilled. They will only form into a memory of wanting something so badly and it ends up getting shaped into how it was before." Heidr added more to her explanation.

"Human… desire…?" Honoka started to think. She remembers well that she heard something related to that explanation but was still trying to process how it is really related.

"Then! Do you mean that the more we want something in this Digital World, the more copies we have?"

"Mmhm. It wasn't like that before they created the City of Memory, though." Heidr said.

"So you mean, it only began to happen since the City of Memory was built?" Kotori asked.

"It's a glitch that they are trying to hide. In order to be able to combine two worlds, they need to partially Digitize the ecosystem. That's why they need a massive power to be able to run their domain and the engine to digitize the real world. The only way for them to gain enough power is to use someone who has infinite power, someone who can convert the light into energy, and someone who will never be remembered in the world they are in." Heidr explained.

"W-wait wait, what do you mean by 'someone'?!" Umi asked.

"Someone. ..Literally someone." Heidr replied.

"It sounds impossible if you think _that_ someone comes from our world. This someone has to be a living being coming from another world, possibly be someone created by human fantasy." Umi said.

"Then that someone is a Digimon?" Kotori asked.

Heidr once again giggled.

"Maybe, you can call that creature as a digital monster, except it never copies and never had a name." She said.

"We named it the Absolute Destroyer." Nozomi said.

"Absolute Destroyer? That sounds epic. But if I name that thing, though, I'll name it something cute instead. Loveless-chan? Pouty-chan? Or should I just add –mon instead? Lovelessmon and Poutymon?" Heidr giggled.

"There, it's not the right time to joke around!" Maki said.

"What's special with human beings is how they are capable of breaking through their limits, creating new ideas, and adjusting to their surroundings. They can learn from experience, they can learn from socialization, and they can observe to learn." Heidr said as her eyes met Maki's gaze.

"Digimons and Robots are similar. Even though they may act like a human, they cannot create their own ideas, they cannot laugh if they aren't given the idea of humor, and they cannot express feelings if they are not programmed with the idea of what they should feel after experiencing an event." She continued with narrowed eyes and a mysterious smile.

"G-gh…!" Maki shivered all of a sudden.

"Sh-she is a little scary…" Niko smirked.

"Have you ever heard of cyborgs? It's a human being with mechanical parts. It could be used to complete their missing part or to be used to surpass their limitations as a human being. But personally, I've never thought of being limited as a human being. It's true that they are not gods but, somehow, humans create their own version of god, right? Then they claimed their fantasy about god as the true god that controls their lives?"

"T-This is getting a little heavy, I don't get it." Honoka commented.

"For how we existed, we never know and we will never know. To believe too much in the existence of gods is silly, but it is as silly as believing that they never existed. So the only way for a human to express the existence of god is to pretend to be both the god and the loyal worshiper then make people believe in it and let the knowledge be inherited from generation to generation."

"You are blabbering a little too much, Heidr-san. What we believe about God doesn't matter and we are not supposed to talk about that." Nozomi said.

"Ah, right, I'm sorry. I was trying to give you a little hint, but I got carried away." Heidr replied with her sweet smile.

"But still, A Cyborg... Does that mean the Absolute Destroyer is half Digimon and Half Human?" Eli asked herself.

"Is that even possible?" Umi asked.

"The Cyber body. Even though you can say that cyber body is only a digitized human body, data is data and it's possible for a human to turn into a creature like a digimon." Eli replied.

"Then, it really is bad to stay as a digitized human being!" Hanayo said.

"As long as we are secure, we are fine. But if we go back to this absolute destroyer, could she actually be an infected digitized human? But what infected her to become such a powerful creature?" The blonde placed her fingers to her chin.

Heidr giggled once again.

"You are so close to the truth, but I'll be leaving you there. I don't want to ruin the fun." She said.

"Thanks, I'd love to figure this out myself." Eli replied.

"This is getting a little too confusing for me." Honoka said.

"Don't worry your little head, Honoka-chan. I know you don't get it, but I'm sure you will later. Just try to memorize the points, ok?" Kotori said.

"Y-yeah I guess?" Honoka smiled awkwardly.

"A-Rise, are you still there?" Eli said.

"Yep, we're listening. Tsubasa-chan fell asleep though." Anjuu replied.

"Tsubasa!" Erena shouted and a loud smack was heard along with it.

"W-whoa! I fell asleep! What was it about again?" Tsubasa asked.

"I'll explain later! But anyway, what should we do now? I bet we need to review our plans." Erena said.

"Yes, but it won't be much different than our main mission. Let's re-do our discussion about this." Eli said.

"Ok!" the girls replied to her before they stood and gathered together again.

"We will keep practicing, don't stop, everyone!" Yamato said as he took the lead after Rin and Hanayo left their spot.

"Got it!" The Digimon replied before they continued to practice their own assigned training.

* * *

 **I hope you enjoy it! I'm eager to release the Ending! MWAHWAHWAHWHWHWAHAWHA \** **(｀∇´)ψ**


	16. Ch16: A Brand New World

**Next chapter! thx to Lightriver33 for edits! i had to use my phone to post it so lack of formating lol.**

 **thx for reviews, comment, and fave!**

* * *

After their discussion;

Their temporary domain finally neared the domain that they are building. Their house is situated at the center of a city-like area and surrounded by tall walls, a flower garden and a big gate with a statue of Angewomon and LadyDevimon serving as its pillars. The theme of the city is traditional Japanese, but much of the city were painted in white, gold, and natural colors.

"Whoaah, this place looks so luxurious." Honoka complimented.

"Is it? I thought I was modeling a simple city structure." Nozomi said.

"Eh? You modeled these? That's nice!" Umi complimented.

"Hehe, actually, Ericchi and I have been planning on creating our own domain before A-rise asked us to do it as a favor. That's how we came with prepared materials. We just never expected that this domain will replace the City of Memory." Nozomi explained.

"This domain is twice the size of the City of Memory and its surroundings. I also designed this city to be run by Digimons. Then, it will be those sparkling cubes' job to fill up the energy." Eli said.

"Will it be enough, though? I mean, we just found a few, right?" Kotori asked.

"There should be more somewhere. Heidr-san helped us create a powerful magnet for it so, once this domain is active and replaces the City of memory, it will absorb every single one of those things. as well as decomposing the City of Memory. All Digimon will revert to their Digi-Egg forms and they will all start over their lives in this Domain."

"W-whoa! Wait! You are about to decompose City of Memory? What about the players, though?" Honoka asked.

"All human data will be sent back to the real world before this domain can normalize the real world. It's as simple as that." Eli replied.

"But doesn't that mean we have to separate with the Digital World?" Honoka asked again.

"Yep, it has to be done like that." Nozomi said.

Each of the girls stared at their own Digimon as they wondered if it really fine for them to allow such a thing from happening. Even though some of them have not built a strong enough bond with each other, it's still somewhat hard to believe that they must separate.

"Now-now, let's try to spend this Quality time properly, ok?" Nozomi interrupted their thoughts. "I'll send you all a Sparkling cube each and you will have to place them in the boxes I already set in each of the special buildings. Additionally, I will also send a map that will enable you to spot Special buildings. Try to discuss with each other so that no one will put a second cube in your chosen box."

"Ok!" The girls nodded.

* * *

The Discussion ended;

Each of them chose a special building to go to. Rin, who usually spends her time with Hanayo, is now traveling with Leon the Leomon.

"Hnn…. So we are about to be separated-nya…" Rin said sadly.

"We will, physically, but I doubt they can separate our spirits!" Leon replied energetically.

"Hehehe! Leon-chan! You surely know how to sweet-talk-nya!"

"I'm not sweet talking! I'm just saying!" Leon replied.

"Really?"

"Yep! Because that's what you think too, right?" Leon said.

Rin remained silent to think about what he just said.

"Rin-chan, when Heidi-san said that we couldn't make our own ideas, I began to think about how I am able to think of how to respond to one's questions flawlessly. It's like I have my own mind!" Leon continued.

"You are right-nya! Why are you so lively-nya?" Rin said.

"Because I was created from your data. Only a small part of me though." Leon replied.

"You answered it-nya!" Rin pointed at him.

"Haha! I realized that after Ichigo told us about how we are created. It wasn't that hard to search our memories because our memories are, basically, all connected at the core of the Digital World. We supposed to be unable to reach it, though, but I guess the security barrier that limits our memories is broken." Leon replied as he scratches his own head.

"So you can search for any sort of knowledge-nya?"

"Uh, maybe? But I have to say, though, this knowledge isn't meant to be known by anyone. Remember what people say about Vaccine, Data, and Virus?" Leon said.

"Yeah-nya, what about it?"

"Some Digimons are evil. I feel like I should educate them." Leon said.

"Hmm…" Rin squinted her eyes and scanned her own Digimon with her Digivice.

"Ahh! You are vaccine-nya! So you are like, the police!"

"Yes! I am the keeper of justice!" Leon said proudly.

"Fun! Hehehe!"

"Yes! It will be fun to be able to protect the weak!

"I'm glad you said that-nya!" Rin said.

"But I'm still weak right now… I might not be able to protect them if I'm about to fight the greater power…" Leon continued.

"What is 'the greater power'-nya?"

"Hmm… power like… that one power that could beat up the greater foe?"

"Uh…I don't get it-nya!"

"I don't know too, honestly!" Leon replied proudly.

"Eeeh… so how we can have that power anyway-nya? Practice-nya?"

"Ooo! Yeah! Like practice! Sonoda's training camp! Best camp for fighting Digimon!" Leon said energetically as he did some practice jabs.

"Hehe, Leon-chan really loves having Umi-chan as tutor!"

"Of course! A true warrior loves to learn! Especially to learn from their own teacher! We move our knife like this!" Leon moved some distance away and started to swing his short-sword around. It's not quite the right way to swing a short sword, but he seemed to be confident and that's all that mattered to Rin.

"Ah, anyway Rin-chan, where is our special building located again?" Leon asked.

"Oh, we are supposed to place our cube inside the warehouse. It's supposed to be a little farther to the north-nya!" Rin said.

"Got it! Let's get going!" Leon replied before he ran.

"Let's go-nya!" the energetic girl followed.

* * *

Meanwhile;

Hanayo and Mary traveled to the farmland since it's the special spot that they picked in an instant. As the two traveled, they took their time planting the seeds they kept in their inventory. After a few meters, Hanayo stopped and rubbed her waist.

"Uuhnn… it's tight!" Hanayo said.

"You are tired, maybe we are not in an unlimited power area." Mary replied.

"Hmm… maybe it's not that I'm tired. I still have the energy to move, but it just that I feel a little uncomfortable in my waist because what I do is very repetitive."

"Is that so? Then let's take a break anyway."

"Hehe, let's!" Hanayo replied before the two sat on the ground together.

A minute passed, they treasured their time to take a breather.

"Hanayo-chan." Mary called.

"Yes?" Hanayo replied cutely.

"Do you think I'm worth something to you?" Mary asked.

"Eh…? What's with that question. Mary-chan is cute and all. Why are you not worth anything?"

"Because, we are not a real living beings. We are just a work of artificial intelligence. We don't have real feelings, we are just an imitations."

"I think it doesn't matter, some humans are imitations too." Hanayo replied.

"What do you mean?" Mary tilted her head slightly.

"Hehe, did you know, Mary-chan? When everyone started to talk about idols, I was so excited, but I can't express that feeling… not yet. The truth is, I want to be an idol too… a human that pretends to be someone else. I would show all my feelings if someone gives me the chance."

"Why do you want to be an imitation?"

"To make other humans happy. Just like how Honoka-chan, Kotori-chan, and Umi-chan do."

"They're not even real idols yet."

"They are not, but they have the potential for it and they are about to be idols anyway. Still, it's not about the results that I like from them, it's the passion they express. Even though they are not familiar with it, they wanted to do it, and even though one of them doesn't like it, she is still doing it as if it is her responsibility. I want to be able to do that." Hanayo explained.

"It's the passion, huh?" Mary started to think for a moment.

"Hmm… As a digimon, do you think you have anything that you like to do?"

"Uh… farming? That's something that gives me the idea of happiness and comfort when I'm doing it."

"Just like me then!" Hanayo giggled.

"I love farming too! Growing what we love is nice!"

"Don't you think it's a passion too?"

"Uhm…. Right, it's a passion."

"So you are already passionate!"

"But it's because I'm used to doing it by myself!" Hanayo pouts cutely.

Mary giggled.

"Hanayo-chan is really cute. I wish I'm as cute as you!" Mary said.

"Aaahh! But Mary-chan is already cuter than me!"

"Noo! Hanayo-chan is cuter!"

"Sheesh! Why do you suddenly sound like Rin-chan?"

"Hehe, maybe because I'm trying to imitate her?"

"There! Mary-chan!"

* * *

A little further to the west;

Maki and Polymnia traveled to their chosen Special Building. The map told them that this special building will become an entertainment hall, just like the one in the City of Memory. She has honestly never paid a visit to the one in City of Memory but, looking at the design, she thinks that Nozomi must have been an art expert or is just simply someone who has done enough research.

The shape of the building looked like it can be perfectly captured with a camera. A square with a white glossy border on its glossy black body, black strings and—….

"Wait a minute…" Maki spoke.

"What's wrong, Maki?" Polymnia asked.

"This building looks like a speaker with a doorway in." Maki said.

"Wah! I never realized that!" Polymnia replied in awe.

The two remained silent for a moment as they stared at the building in awe.

"E-eh. Why are we here again?" Maki decided to break the ice.

"O-oh! Right! We are supposed to get this cube in its case." Maki said.

"Ah, you are right. Let's get it done, shall we?" Polymnia replied before the two started to move.

As they stepped in to the building, they can see that the entrance is decorated by celestial objects. Both Maki's and Polymnia's eyes widened in astonishment. They wondered how Nozomi could think of this but, then again, astrology is also one of the topics that Nozomi totally loves.

The zodiac signs were drawn with the stars and holographic thin lines and each had its name written under the image. Even though the room was only lit with one simple light, Maki and Polymnia knows that there might be a better lighting technique that will be added into it to add more life on each of the zodiac constellation.

With evidence of unfinished engines around the room, Maki wished that she can convince her friend to finish this as soon as possible so that she can enjoy it.

Then again, this may not be the right time to think about that. They all needed to deal with something crucial right now. If she remembers well, her briefing said that they only have 20 minutes to put all the cubes in the box, then another 10 minutes to regroup and moor their domain close to the City of Memory's domain.

There's no time to lose. She has to work fast.

"Polymnia, let's get this done and return."

"Ok, Maki!" Polymnia replied.

The two, once again, focused on the task at hand.

The southern part of place;

Niko and Chibby traveled to the area that was to become the marketplace—the place to hoard wealth and fulfill their needs. It's weird to see this place empty, but Niko knows that this is going to be the heart of this City.

"Man, I can't believe I have to look for something around this empty square." Niko said.

"Yet we still haven't found any sign of the box." Chibby said.

"Oh shut up! We are looking, ok?"

"Heh-heh-heh, do you think it will be harder to find something like that in a wide area like this?"

"Nah! Not really. We can just try to lay down the ground and see if we can spot that box instantly."

"Sounds stupid, but if it works, it isn't stupid." Chibby replied.

"Exactly-duh? Now, do that." Niko said.

"Me?"

"Yeah! Or actually, you could do better! You are a ghost now so sink to the ground, will-ya?"

"Blargh, I'll do that I guess." Chibby replied before he sank into the ground.

He took a few minutes to search but, for some reason, he can't even spot anything sticking out of the floor so he decided to start moving. Niko followed him as she also helped with scanning around the area.

"Really, why do we have to do this? We should just ask where exactly the box is." Niko complained.

"Hmm… do you think Nozomi will answer if we ask?"

"Hah, surely, she might."

"You don't sound like you are sure about it."

"Because Nozomi is always such a meanie ass when it comes to anything that has to do with me." Niko replied.

"I think she cares about you." Chibby said.

"Yea-uh? The only care I know is because she thinks of me as her daughter or something, then her 'Ericchi' is the dad." Niko smirked.

Chibby remained silent since he doesn't have anything to say about that fact.

"But caring is still caring, it's not like I want her to care too much about me either. I mean, I'd rather be the one who looks more mature than anyone else, you know."

"So you, like… want to be the mom?"

"No way, you silly ghost, not the mom! I'd rather be the big sister!"

"Then, maybe Nozomi isn't the figure you prefer to go around with, huh? I can't see you as her big sister at all, more like the younger sister."

"Are you mocking me because of my size?!"

"G-gh! It's not like that at all! I'm not that big either!"

"Then, what are you trying to say?"

"More like… don't you think that, maybe, we would fit in more if we hang out with the first years? Especially that one red haired girl?"

"Huh? Well, I don't know, but I think I'm fine with them all. They are all kind in a way, just sort of bullies sometimes."

"Now I wonder why you are often the target of bullies?"

"I wonder why too! Maybe because I'm too cute and they are jealous?"

Chibby narrowed his eyes.

"Ah—that must be it! Because I'm so cute and no one can help but to try to make me look so bad! After all, I'm supposed to be the number one idol… I'm so charming and everything about me is perfect!"

"Oh…" Chibby smirked.

"They might be so flustered too. My intelligence surpasses the common human being and they are afraid if they're outwitted." Niko continued as she touched her own cheek and giggled proudly.

"Aaah—it's so hard to be the greatest of the greatest. Who would've expected me to let them join in my glory?" she continued to blabber.

Chibby rolled his eyes. Now he might know why Niko is often the target of bullies. In a way, though, he thinks that Niko is actually charming just the way she is. It's not like she is that useless either. Chibby has stayed with her for a long time and he can see that Niko's intuition has always been her strength and that is what stands out about her.

Who needs technical intelligence if intuition is enough to solve all the problems she stumbled into?

* * *

Meanwhile;

Nozomi, Angel in Ophanimon form, and Lady in Devidramon form have their own cube to place. Nozomi couldn't really say what is in her mind right now. There's something that she doesn't like from how this turned out and the atmosphere among them seemed to be cold—it's really nothing like the usual days when they hang out.

"I'm sorry…" Lady said to break the silence.

"What are you sorry for, Lady?" Angel asked.

"This atmosphere makes me feel awkward. It's because of me, right?" Lady said.

"Uh? No? What happened anyway? Did I miss anything?" Angel asked again.

Lady sighed softly.

"Angel, don't you think I look ugly and scary in this form?"

"Hmm… not at all?" Angel replied innocently.

"No? Then it must be just my feeling." Lady replied a little shyly.

"Your shape isn't ugly at all. Your heart is." Nozomi said coldly.

Lady and Angel stopped, both surprised at how Nozomi responded to them. Lady seemed to be very sad when she looked at how her master walked away from her. She truly regrets her actions.

"Nozomi-chan!" Angel called her.

Nozomi stopped, but she didn't bother to turning to her Digimon.

"Lady is fine the way she is. Please don't hate her." Angel said.

"I don't hate her. I just hate what she did."

"Because she apologized to you?" Angel asked.

"It's not that one. It's the one before that."

"Because she decided to turn into something else?"

"No, just ask her yourself. I don't want to hear it anymore." Nozomi said.

"I have a task to do, catch up to me once you two are done talking." She continued as she walked away.

Once the young purplenette left, Angel and Lady faced each other. They were both awkwardly quiet for a moment until Lady decided to speak up first.

"I… I was jealous that—…"

"Alright, that's it. Let's move on, Lady!" Angel cut in.

Lady got flustered and she wondered if Angel didn't want to hear it too.

"I don't need to hear about what I already know. So let's move on, shall we?" Angel cheerfully said to her.

"You… already know? Yet you are not bothered with it?"

"Why should I? There were times when I was so jealous of you. It's normal."

"What are you saying? It's not normal to be jealous!"

"It's normal! Everyone can feel jealous… even Nozomi-chan herself! Remember that one time when Eli-chan was so obsessed with the digital world?"

"Yes, I remember that Eli always goes off to the digital world by herself, she didn't even bother to call Nozomi to accompany her. It was always Nozomi who had to catch up to her." Lady replied.

"Yup, then you remember what she said?"

"I don't, Did she even say anything about that?"

"Well, her lips didn't, but her actions did. Did you notice that Nozomi modified a card the day before the S-Rank Tournament for Kuzunoha?"

"N… Not at all, how did you notice it?" Lady asked.

"That time, I was the one who sold that card while you were selling the other stuff for her. She told me this : When someone is about to purchase cards, always ask them what are they going to use the card for."

"That sounds normal? I mean, those cards have their own usage and where they excel at, it's normal for a merchant to offer suggestions."

"Yep, but she also said this : If anyone says that he or she wants to join the S-Rank Tournament this week, add the golden power up card as bonus."

"And what's wrong with—….!" Lady paused as she realized something.

"Wait, are you saying that–…?"

"Yep, she is the mastermind."

"But, why? Didn't she love Kuzunoha too?"

"Did she really? Nozomi-chan wasn't someone who believed in a Digimon's value. It was all a game for her." Angel said.

"She thinks that way? I never knew, I've never noticed that." Lady replied sadly.

"I said she _was_. She realized a digimon's value after she did it and she regrets it."

"Are you not bothered by that? What if she still thinks that way about us?"

"Hehe, Lady, I don't usually hate something, but if there's anything that I hate, that will be repeating myself on a statement that I already said clearly." Angel smiled at Lady.

"Wh-what?"

"I told you, she thought that way _but_ she regrets it. Isn't that clear enough?"

"What so clear about it? It doesn't explain anything at all!"

"She was thinking that way _and_ she regrets it." Angel repeated herself.

"Angel!"

"She was thinking that way _**and she regrets it**_."

"Please explain it to me!"

"What's the use of living in the past? Everybody makes mistakes so all that matters is to fix what was broken." Angel said.

"You are right, but, is it that easy to forgive? If that happens again, what are we going to do?"

"She regrets it. She is already trying to fix it and she somehow did. Eli has already moved on from Kuzu-chan."

"But still! Kuzunoha is someone we love too! You were broken when she died! I saw you crying and all!"

"I was crying, I was sad, and I feel guilty because I could have stopped it but I didn't."

"Then, what else? Why did you not do something until now?"

"What do you want to do if you are me? Are you going to be upset at her? What's the point? Would that make anything better? Would that make her feel better? Would that make Eli-chan feel better? Would that make you feel superior? Would that make Kuzunoha happy? Would that make Sakuya happy? Would anyone become happy because you are trying to avenge what was done?"

Lady remained silent.

"Nozomi already paid her due and it's over. They have started a new page so don't stain them with hatred." Angel continued.

"Y-you… you are right." Lady sighed.

"Ah… Lady, lecturing someone is the other thing that I hate. Did I hurt your feelings?" Angel asked out of concern.

"N…no, not at all, thanks for convincing me."

"I'm glad. Should we catch up to Nozomi-chan now?"

"Yes, we should." Lady nodded.

* * *

Somewhere within the µ's house;

Eli and Sakuya were in charge of watching over the domain since they needed to make sure that the special buildings go active once everyone placed their cubes. At the moment, though, none of the girls have successfully placed their cube inside their assigned box yet, not even Nozomi.

"Why are they taking so long?" Eli sighed in front of her laptop.

"Do you want me to watch over them?" Sakuya asked.

"Just stay here, Sakuya. I don't want you to go anywhere for now." Eli replied.

"Understood." Sakuya nodded.

Suddenly, a very gentle knock is heard from the door.

"Come in." Eli said.

Heidr walked in with a cup of hot chocolate milk on a tray.

"Happy time for you, sweetheart." she said before she placed it on Eli's table.

"Harasho, Heidr-san, you know that this is my favorite."

"Like Mother like daughter, I say." Heidr giggled.

"You know my mother?" Eli tilted her head slightly,

"Nope, not at all. I was just saying that to fluster you."

Eli smiled at her.

"You are weird, just like what Nozomi says about you." she said before she started to drink her chocolate milk.

"This is perfect. You know my taste as well as Nozomi." Eli commented.

"The perfect taste for the hard working woman." Heidr replied.

"There, you flatter me, Heidr-san." Eli said with a gentle giggle.

"You are cute when you smile. No wonder Nozomi is so all over you."

"Surely, but I couldn't say that I'm not clingy either. There are times when I feel like my world is crumbling, and those times are when Nozomi is not somewhere with me for a long time."

"Wow, you are pretty obsessive too then?" Heidr asked.

"Obsessive? Maybe. I often get jealous when Nozomi isn't paying attention to me."

"My, that's sweet of you. I'm glad Nozomi is with you."

"Huh?" Eli raised her eyebrow.

"An obsessive couple is the best thing to have in the world. If both of you are so obsessive about each other, then you two have nothing to worry about."

"You are right. It means that we have each other."

"Hmm…I wonder why the other potential lovers aren't bound like you two yet? Maybe they need a little push?"

"You mean, Honoka and Tsubasa?"

"Yep, don't you think they are a little too distant with each other?"

"To begin with, I wonder how someone like Honoka can fall in love romantically. She is a little too dense."

"As dense as the shallowest river, she goes down and eventually reaches the deep blue sea and returns to the top."

"I have never heard of that phrase." Eli said.

"I made it up myself. It was just to say that girl isn't going anywhere."

"Right, huh? Sea water turned back into rain and then back to the river and down the sea again."

"Do you think Tsubasa and Honoka will be a pair of lovebirds someday?"

"I wouldn't know. I'm not them." Eli replied.

"Can you at least imagine it?"

"I can't. I'm not them, I don't know what's so charming about Honoka other than her spirit and I don't know what's so charming about Tsubasa other than her quick action."

"They have what it takes to be the leader. But as you said, I don't know if they will ever be in a romantic relationship. Though I have to say it once again : They need a little push from someone who knows what true love is."

"You make it sounds impossible… do you think there is anyone who knows what true love is?"

"Mmh… maybe? I guess I'll leave it to you to find out about." Heidr said before she left the room.

"What a strange woman." Sakuya said.

"She is, but I have to admit, she is extremely beautiful. I guess that makes up for her weird attitude." Eli replied.

"By the way, Eli, your arm…" Sakuya pointed. The light mark on Eli's arm is getting slightly brighter."

"Ah, right. It's strange that I no-longer feel pain ever since we moved domains. Maybe it really is the security barrier that hurts me." Eli said.

"Do you think you can grab your digivice now? Nozomi gave it to me a while back saying we might need it somehow."

"Sure, hand it to me." Eli replied.

Sakuya handed the digivice to her and, just as they thought, it didn't hurt Eli, but the light slowly expanded up to her jaw.

"Uh, Eli. Please hand it back to me. The mark has expanded to your head." Sakuya said.

"Really?" Eli replied as she returned the digivice. Even though she already put some distance between her and the digivice, the mark remained.

"Now, how do we hide that mark?" Sakuya sighed. Eli kept searching around until she found a scarf hanging on the hanger. She owns that scarf, which was bought a few weeks before she and her girlfriend went on their Christmas date. She pulled it and quickly wrapped it around her neck.

"There we go… Looks like it's solved easily. But, I guess you should stay away from the Digivice before things get worse, just like Nozomi suggested."

"Yes, also, I think we need to return to the map?" Eli suggested.

"Oh! Has anyone placed their cube yet?" Sakuya asked.

Eli turned her attention to the map.

"No… sadly. It looks like they are all really taking their time." she sighed.

* * *

Meanwhile;

Umi and Yamato traveled to the special building that was to become the new domain's gym. She could've journeyed on Yamato's back, but Umi decided to walk on her own since she feels like she shouldn't rely too much on him.

"... and then, we will look for this box and place our cube in it." Umi ended her words.

"I got it. But, don't you ever wonder why we have to do this?"

"I don't know. It's a request so we just have to do it, right?" Umi asked.

"But what exactly are these cubes again? Memory fragments that the wild digimons are after?"

"Yes, that's right. The wild Digimons are after these things. It must be very important to them for a reason."

"Perhaps it gives power? Perhaps it gives something really important to them?" Umi asked.

"I've heard about Megidramon and Diaboromon, those two Digimon that chased us. They should actually be way stronger than that, but it feels like their powers were depleted enough that Lucemon could take both of them down with ease." Yamato said.

"Did you hear it from your memory? Just like Ichigo?"

"Mm…maybe. I feel like I'm starting to have connected memories with the other digimons. I found myself remembering a few things that never happened. I'm afraid that, as a Virus Digimon, I would think about something really bad and hurt you."

"I'm sorry, I wasn't able to turn you into anything other than Virus." Umi said sadly.

"No, it's fine. A wise man once said, to fight evil within you is better than to be born good. Even though I might be having a few bad thoughts, I'm going to assure you that I really will fight them. I will protect you with all my power, Umi."

"Thank you, Yamato." Umi smiled gently at him.

"It's my duty as a warrior! After all, you have worked so hard for me and I should keep this honor with me!" Yamato said proudly.

The bluenette giggled.

"Really, Yamato. It's true that I really desire a dignity. I think I have lost them all ever since—…" Umi paused.

"Ever since…?" Yamato tried to press her to continue her statement.

"Ever since I realized my duty as a woman who was born and grew up with warrior's blood flowing through my veins. I love my title, I love my daily activities, and I love myself as I am, yet I have never found out what true dignity as warrior means. A few times in the past, I tried to show myself among those who fall into the same destiny I have by joining every possible competition and getting ahead in my training. But then, I began to lose my motivation when I started to wonder why I am even doing things without knowing about the reason for doing so."

"Didn't you already say your reason?" Yamato asked.

"I haven't." Umi replied.

"But you said you love your title, daily activities and f your true self… aren't those enough as reasons for you to do it?"

"Ah!" Umi raised her eyebrows.

"But, are those really enough? It relates into my life and I can't possibly be blinded with the joy of doing what I love."

"Then, shouldn't that be just a stepping stone for you? I mean, when you love something, you have to keep at it until you find out what to do with it and how you can relate it to your life. It may have nothing to do with dignity as your dignity has always existed within your faith."

Umi remained quiet, trying to comprehend the whole conversation she just had.

"Are you saying that maybe, what I desire is not dignity?"

"Where did you get that idea? Did someone tell you?"

"Someone certainly did."

"You can't just hold on to what comes out of other people's mouths. Don't believe that voice." Yamato said.

"But then, how can that voice say : Your Greatest Desire is what we need?" Umi asked.

"Don't you want to take this to the others?"

"Maybe…?"

"I feel like we need to talk about it soon before we moor closer to the City of Memory's domain."

* * *

At the south-east side;

Kotori and Suzaku traveled to the special building that would become a travel agency. They took their time to examine each of the road's details and the Air-Ways port that should help the flying digimon carry objects and take short breaks in.

"Looks like we are set in this last route, should we go look for the boxes now?" Suzaku suggested.

"Yep! Surely!" Kotori replied.

As soon as the two retraced their steps back to where they are supposed to place their cube, they caught sight of Honoka sitting with her Ichigo. She seemed busy with her digivice and it is most likely that she is chatting with someone specific.

"Urhh… Honoka-chan, she is slacking again, isn't she?" Kotori smirked.

"Looks like it. Why is she chatting with someone at this time?" Suzaku said.

The two decided to move a little closer to her.

"Honoka-chan!" Kotori and Suzaku greeted at the same time.

"Wh-who-whoa?! K-Kotori-chan?!" Honoka jumped off her seat.

"Did you find your box yet?" Kotori asked

"I did! Haha, it's over there!" Honoka pointed to a box near her. Kotori tried to process the thing Honoka is pointing at, but even after a few minutes, she can't see anything.

"Which one, Honoka-chan? I can't see anything!"

"Uh, that one! On the wall!"

"On the wall?" Kotori scanned the nearby wall. It is made of a special brick and one of the sets is missing but there's a faint light on the outline.

"Hehe, I found that one easily!" Ichigo said proudly.

"H-how could you do that, Ichigo?" Suzaku asked.

"My eyes, they can see data and particles clearly. I think I inherited something special!" Ichigo said.

"That's true, but, at this rate, you might be the only person who can place the cube inside the box!" Kotori said.

"Yeah, true, but even though I found it, I can't place it in." Ichigo said.

"Why?" Kotori asked.

"I don't know. Honoka said that there's something painful preventing the cube from entering." Ichigo said.

"Let me try." Kotori said before she took out her cube and walked close to the box. She placed her cube with ease and a reaction happened. The box closed and the road they traveled on lit up with faint light and the Air-ways port followed. Above them, they noticed a transparent floating rail with a floating train-like transport hanging under it. They moved very slowly but smoothly.

"Ohh! Its activated!" Honoka said.

"Looks like that box wasn't meant for us then." Ichigo said.

"Uh, did you know where your box is supposed to be?" Kotori asked.

"Hmmm… I don't quite remember the name of the special building I'm assigned to."

"Honoka-chan…" Kotori sighed.

"Please remember your special building." She continued.

"It was to the restaurant." Ichigo said.

"Oh, restaurant? Then why are you two here? Isn't the restaurant supposed to be at the north-west part of this city area?"

"Eh, really? Where are we?" Honoka asked.

"You are not looking at your map?" Suzaku asked with a soft sigh.

"I did but I thought I'm in the right position!" Honoka showed her map through her digivice.

"You can't be looking at a reversed map, Honoka-chan. It's a digivice and—….eh?" Kotori's eyes widened.

"Why is your digivice's display setting flipped vertically?!" she asked.

"It is?"

"It is! Sheesh! Give me your digivice!"

"O-Ok!" Honoka replied before she took off her digivice and handed it to Kotori.

"Weird, you were able to chat with Tsubasa a while ago. Are you actually reading in reverse position?" Ichigo asked.

"The digivice's chat setting is flexible since it doesn't follow the digivice's position. Instead, it follows the eye position. You can adjust your digivice with the same setting, but really, why did you flip your screen vertically?"

"Uh, I didn't change anything though?" Honoka replied.

"You didn't? Then how could this happen to you?"

"I can answer that one to remind her about something she did a while back." Ichigo said.

"Eh? I did something?" Honoka asked.

"You did. You were flipping the screens around. It was when you were in a call with Tsubasa." Ichigo said.

"Honoka-chan, you were still in a call with Tsubasa-chan at a time like this?"

"W-We were just talking about… uh, the conditions, yeah." Honoka replied.

"Yeah, they were just on call for about five minutes. Tsubasa was asking about what Honoka wanted to eat once she returns to the real world." Ichigo said.

"Sheesh, that sounds a little too far off to plan today! We have to face the issue with the City of Memory first!"

"You are right, Kotori-chan, but, still, I can't help myself. Tsubasa-chan also seemed to be expecting so much from me."

Kotori sighed at her statement.

"Well, Honoka-chan. Maybe we should talk about your relationship with her after all."

"Yes, maybe we should." Honoka replied sadly with a sigh.

"But maybe we can do that while making our way to your spot?"

"Ok!" Honoka nods, her face drastically returns to her cheerful self.

"Kotori! Let's use that train! I spotted a station nearby!" Suzaku said.

"Really? Then off we go on the train!" Kotori replied cheerfully.

It only takes a short while for them to reach the nearby station;

While Honoka, Kotori, and Ichigo hop into the train's wagon, Suzaku flew near the train since her Birdramon form won't fit inside.

"Hmm… maybe it will be hard for a big Digimon to travel around the city at this rate." Honoka said.

"Hehe, I believe there will be upgrades to take care of that, but anyway, let's focus on what we need to discuss."

"Ah, right, it's about me and Tsubasa-chan."

"Exactly. Now please tell me, Honoka-chan. What do you feel?" Kotori asked.

"What do I feel?" Honoka questioned herself.

"I don't know…" she continued with a sad smile.

"How exactly do you feel when you are talking to her?" Kotori tried to rephrase her question.

"Hmm… I feel… I feel happy! But also scared. It's not the same fear like when I'm talking to Umi-chan though! I don't know what makes me afraid, but it just that there's a feeling that makes my heart beat so quickly! It's like it's going to stop."

"Then, I have witnessed Tsubasa-chan asking you out, what do you feel about that?"

"Uhm… I feel like it's still a little too soon to answer it. What if I never loved her from the start? What if I just wanted to be her friend? I mean…! If I'm to be her girlfriend, doesn't that mean that I will have to stick with her all the time?"

"Honoka-chan! I wouldn't let you to stick with her all the time! Being a girlfriend doesn't mean that you have to do that! You also have to remember us! We are your best friends and we are also here for you and your life!"

"Wouldn't you feel jealous if your girlfriend talks to another?"

"What are you saying? Nozomi-chan talks to us all the time but Eli-chan doesn't feel jealous at all. Being in a relationship needs trust, you know. There's no point of being in a relationship if you can't trust each other!" Kotori said.

"T-true…" Honoka replied.

The two remained silent for a bit.

"Hmm… Kotori-chan, please don't blame Honoka-chan for that kind of knowledge. Honoka-chan contacted Nozomi-chan earlier and Nozomi-chan said that being in relationship means that you have to dedicate yourself to your partner."

"Well, she is right, but what's the meaning of dedication to you, Honoka-chan?" Kotori asked.

"Uhmm… to… uh, be faithful?"

"Dedication is to be committed to a purpose, what's the purpose of you two being in a relationship?"

"Uhh… I don't know…" Honoka averted her eyes.

Kotori sighed.

"Well, Honoka-chan, I can give you a list of the purposes of being in a relationship, but I think I should let you think for yourself. This is your relationship, after all."

"Hnnng… Kotori-chan, can't you at least give me an example?"

"Nope! You will just copy that example! I'm not going to let you do that!"

"Gggh…Kotori-chan! Why are you suddenly being a meanie like Umi-chan?!"

"I'm not mean, Honoka-chan! Sheesh! I'm just trying to make you decide on your own! It's really not like you to not be able to make your own decision!"

"But I really know nothing about this!"

"You will get it if you work hard enough! But anyway! Let's focus on the task at hand first, ok? Then we regroup at home"

"Hnnn…. Alright." Honoka pouts.

Kotori sighed, she can't believe that she had to say all that to her best friend. Especially if she also knows that she has to lie to find out what she doesn't know. Truth to be told, it's actually something that she desires: A commitment to choose what she wishes for her life.

If it wasn't because of Honoka and Umi, she wouldn't know what type of evolution she should be after. Then, if it wasn't for Honoka going around on her own and doing anything her heart tells her, she wouldn't know what to do to pass the time in this Digital world.

She is glad that Honoka is here to decide for her— but why can't she decide on her own? What's wrong with her? There must be something that can help her somehow, right?

* * *

The µ's home;

Eli noticed that the girls are finally finished with their task after about ten minutes. The whole city is active and now they can fully use the facilities. But before all that, she needed to make them regroup and make sure that everyone is ready to do the next thing.

Eli sent a teleport offer to everyone—thanks to the city travel facility that has now allowed her to utilize the true power of a programmer inside the digital world. Within a few seconds, everyone returned to the µ's home.

"Whoaah! This is amazing-nya!" Rin said in awe as she and Leon arrived.

"Wh-whawa! I really get teleported here!" Hanayo said in surprise.

"This is nice, I wish we can do this everywhere." Maki said as she and Polymnia appeared.

"Are you really getting full control over this domain?" Niko said as she and Chibby appeared.

"Eli, you are surely a professional on this matter." Umi complimented as she and Yamato appeared.

"Calling upon specific people everywhere is a good function, I wish someone implements it in the game later." Kotori said as she and Suzaku appeared.

"Hnnnggghh… I thought it was my group call that called! But it's actually you using a new teleport mechanism!" Honoka said as she carried her Ichigo in her arms.

"Well, I'd prefer you calling me with lover calls, but this works." Nozomi said before two of her Digimon appeared behind her.

"We have a task at hand, so let's not have too much chit-chat." Eli said to them.

"I'll go call Heidr-san." Sakuya said.

"Thank you, Sakuya." Eli replied before Sakuya nodded and ran to get the woman they needed.

"Now that our domain is active, I want you all to prepare yourselves for battle. There are three fates that may befall us as we reach closer to that domain. First, we might all be ambushed by wild Digimons or Bugged Digimons and their tamers and, at that point, we have to defend this domain and not let any other official know about this. Heidr-san is the only person we can rely on as she has connections with the official. Second, we might be captured by one of the teams. I have received information that tamers in the City of Memory have split into three groups: Digital-Fanatics, Real-Fanatics, and Peacemakers. Despite being called Peacemakers, their true aim is actually to try and destroy both teams and keep the world as it is. We know we don't want that, right?" she said. "Then, third, maybe the officials will turn hostile towards us. I've been doing a lot of programming activities and hi-jacking their server so they might suspect us. If this happens, let's try to pretend that we know nothing about programming. Heidr-san said that she will take care of it if that fate falls upon us." the blonde continued the explanation.

"With those possible fates, we have prepared two scenarios that could work as a solution for us all." Heidr said as she came in to the room with Sakuya. They are carrying a few discs inside some boxes and they place them on the floor before turning to face to the girls.

"The first scenario is a solution to fate numbers one and two. Once we enter the domain, we will stay in groups and fight our way to the City of Memory and using the chaotic event to our advantage, we will charge our way in to their control room." Heidr explained.

"Second scenario is for the third fate. We will all have to split up and hide. While in hiding, we need to train hard and become strong enough to face the official and. at the right time, we will regroup and invade the control room." Eli added.

"If we succeed, we will have full control of the Digital World and we might be able to open the portal and let the players return to the real world." Heidr added.

"But! How about the Digimons and the absolute destroyer?" Hanayo asked.

"We can lock them in the new domain. Heidr-san helped me create a passage that can't be crossed without permission. At the same time, I also copied the green wall system which is apparently overseen by the City of Memory."

"What do you mean by 'overseen'? I thought the greenwall system is just the same with the city of memory." Maki asked.

"No, it's not. The city of memory controls digimon by limiting their evolution and forcing players to pay for fees and win the tournaments to be able to pass it. Specific cards will allow them to pass through the security, yet, at the same time, they also cause those copy paste bugs to happen. When your Digimon tries to evolve, they send their power data to the place they call 'back-up' drive."

"Hold it right there! I'm not sure about what you mean by 'pass it'. I thought it's normal for digimon to not be able to evolve before they meet the criteria?" Niko asked.

"Yes, that's true, but the city of memory doesn't simply do that. The city of memory is a domain that focuses their system on the business side of things since they wanted their players to use more money in the game. A successful player will be rich, but those who are not go wasted. It's a coincidence that none of us qualify as failure players, not even Niko."

"H-hey! You don't have to mention my name along with 'failure player'!" Niko protested.

"No offense, but I've seen your record. You entered the Champion tournament 15 times but don't have even a single win in your record. That's quite a record, you know. Normally, people will enter the challenge about five times at most and score a few wins. But, even though you are suck at battle, you have quite a good record for beauty contests… and with a Soulmon too. That's amazing." Eli said.

"C-Can we just go back to the task at hand?!" Niko complained.

"Sure, you got it. So back to what we should do later…" Eli pause for a bit as she gestured to Heidr and Sakuya.

"We are going to inject your digimon with these power-up vials. It may not be effective enough and the result might be slightly weaker than the natural training, but it will prove effective enough to hasten the progress. Each of those power-up vials are adjusted to your digimon's current power. All of our Digimon will evolve onto the first stage of Ultimate Digimon once we are close enough to the City of memory's domain." The blonde continued.

"What do these vials do, exactly?" Kotori asked.

"They gather some artificial experience from the surrounding data for your Digimon." Eli replied.

"Whoa! That sounds cool-nya!" Rin commented.

"Eli-chan and Nozomi-chan helped my research for those things—and it was thanks to you all for supplying me with the main ingredients." Heidr said.

"Main ingredients? Don't tell me, are those cubes—…?" Umi wondered.

"Yep, they are supposed to be mine, but I don't mind sharing! I only need one to appreciate its beauty anyway!" Angel commented.

"Those cubes have a lot of use in the right hands. But anyhow, Heidr-san was the one who told me that those cubes have a lot of uses." Nozomi said.

"It's only natural for officials to know about that. After all, the City of Memory fed their digimon with those too." Heidr said.

"Do you feed your Lucemon with that, then?" Maki asked.

"Lucemon? Nah—he doesn't eat those anymore. He had enough he said." Heidr giggled.

"Speaking of Lucemon, I haven't seen him in a while." Hanayo said.

"He is waiting for us in the City of Memory." Heidr said.

"How could he travel there?" Niko asked.

"By evolving into his final form. Don't worry, he isn't going to harm anyone. He is just there to be our safety guard." Heidr said.

"Safety guard?" The girls were flustered.

"It's weird to be protected by one Digimon that is said to be an evil being." Kotori said.

"Nothing wrong with that, darkness is a lot more friendly than you think." Heidr smiled teasingly.

"Hehehe, I guess it's because darkness is always portrayed as the evil one in every story!" Honoka commented.

"Really? But I don't think so. The matter of what is bad or good depends on one's perspective." Heidr replied.

"Perspective? Hnng... you mean like, what makes us happy is what's good for us?" Honoka asked.

"Not quite. Happiness doesn't describe good or bad properly. You are not always in a good state of life when you are happy, but sometimes, you find happiness even in a bad situation."

"Oohh! But doesn't that mean that we are actually in a good state? I mean, we might be happy because the bad states teach us lessons in life, right?" Honoka said.

"That's true… you are a pretty interesting girl, aren't you?" Heidr giggled at her.

"Honoka, you are deciphering her words wrong! She means, like, you can be happy in the wrong state of life! For example, you are having fun and being happy while ignoring the fact that you got almost a zero score in your math exam!" Umi said.

"W-wha-wa! Umi-chan! You are so cruel!" Honoka protested.

"Now-now, I didn't say anything about right or wrong. Each person has their own view about the world around them." Heidr said.

"That's true, but Honoka shouldn't be spoiled. Sometimes we need to hit her right on her butt to make her work something out with full focus!" Umi said.

"Alright, you know her best, Umi-chan." Heidr giggled again.

"So anyway, everyone…" Eli cuts in to the conversation.

"When we split later, we will go around in pairs just to make sure that we have someone to back us up. It's better for us to have different types of Digimon so that we can protect each other from the different types. I'll be with Nozomi, Kotori and Umi should go together, Rin and Hanayo, Maki and Niko, then lastly, Honoka, since your Ichigo might not be able to fight so much yet even with the power up vials, you go with Heidr-san. She will make sure you are safe." She explained.

"It's too bad that you can't go with your darling, huh?" Heidr said teasingly.

"D-Darling? Heheh! I don't have one yet!" Honoka replied with a somewhat nervous smile.

"That's fine, I'll find a way to have you meet up with her later!" Heidr said with a soft mischievous giggle.

"Sh-ssheeessh! Heidi-san! You're teasing me so much!" Honoka replied, still with her nervous smile.

"Besides! It's not like I'm thinking too much about her right now! I'm trying to focus on this task at hand!" Honoka continued with determination. Everyone just knows that she is lying about it.

"Honoka-chan, didn't we agree that we should focus right now?" Kotori asked.

"R-Right, yes. I have to focus!"

"It's not the time for you to think too much about your romantic relationship with anyone. It's not because we are jealous or anything, it just that it's really not the right time for it. Even the two who are always into their lovey-dovey-romance didn't do it." Niko said.

"Are you talking about us, Nikocchi?" Nozomi frowned.

"Ye-uh? Or actually! You just stand close to Eli and I already tell you two to get a room. No one wants to see you two being lewd."

"W-what? That's cruel, what's wrong with me and Nozomi being next to each other?" Eli complained.

"I don't know, it's the atmosphere I guess? Heck, when you two are looking at each other, there's always this unheard conversation in people's minds…" Niko took a deep breath and muffled her voice.

"Oh—Ericchi, let's make love!" she said with extremely high pitched voice.

"Yes, Nozomi, I love your breasts so much that I could suck it all day." she replied to herself with heavy voice.

"S-S-Shameless!" Umi suddenly yelled with bright red face.

"Nikocchi! Are you trying to pick a fight with me?!" Nozomi's frown got deeper.

"Even though that's true, I wouldn't say something like that out loud!" Eli said.

"Ericchi!" Nozomi turned to Eli and pouted at her.

"But that's true! I love your breasts and I could suck it all day!" Eli said.

"Even more shameless!" Umi commented.

"You idiot! You just contradicted yourself!" Maki commented.

"Sh-she is not as smart as we think she is-nya!" Rin commented.

Hanayo and Kotori smiled awkwardly. They didn't expect for things to turn out the way it did while Honoka was relieved that her issue was forgotten, thanks to Niko.

"Anyway, let's get back to the business, shall we?" Heidr said.

"Ah right, so, we split into teams, right?" Honoka asked.

"Yep." She replied.

"Alright! So let's get this done quickly so we can get another matter done!" Honoka said cheerfully.

"Hmm…so you _do_ want to get things done quickly for Tsubasa, huh?" Heidr said.

"I-It's not like that! Heidi-san!"

* * *

Meanwhile in the real world;

"Tsubasa! We've got a few Digital Fanatics on the west side of the city! They are coming with a group of hackers to try making an opening for the Digital world's entrance!" said a tamer.

"That's fine, actually, things are already messy and if we could make an opening for the tamers, we can go full offense!" Tsubasa said.

"No! Tsubasa! No one go for full offense! I have convinced the real world team to hold their attempt. They said that they got a few fanatics to work with them too so, right now, they are slowing down the process and, if possible, they ensure its failure!" Erena said.

"Then do whichever you think should be the best solution!" Tsubasa replied.

"I wonder if those girls have made their save points yet?" Anjuu asked.

"You think anyone will watch them dance at time like this?" Erena asked.

"Yep, I'm positive about it. Even though we are currently overwhelmed with this situation, we still have the non-tamers. They might get bored for the time being, so they would most likely surf the internet to find something to entertain themselves." Anjuu said.

"Oohh! Then, we can actually just convince them to look at their video!" Tsubasa said.

"We can, but not so fast, Tsubasa, the girls aren't ready yet. They said that they are now close to the City of Memory. They will need to accomplish their first task before they can fully focus on returning to the real world."

"Why are they so worked up with the City of Memory anyway?" Tsubasa said.

"Nozomi-chan said that it's related to what we asked her before. In order to end this mess, they have to complete this plan of theirs." Anjuu said.

"That's why you should listen to people when they are talking!" Erena said.

"Heh, alright. I just feel like it's not necessary anymore. I mean, that big thing, Absolute Destroyer's tower… what if we can just destroy it? I have a feeling that tower is actually an incubator for the AD to reappear as a real creature." Tsubasa said.

"W-what did you just say?!" Erena frowned.

"An incubator…? So my hunch was right." Anjuu said.

"Listen, this is just my feeling, but, even though the µ's and we have the same purpose right now which is to end the mess, I feel like someone is leading us to fulfill something else." Tsubasa said.

"And how could you say that?" Erena asked.

"I don't know. It's just my feeling." Tsubasa said.

"Hmm, I doubt that's the case though, because, even though that could be true, Eli will have our backs. She knows what to do with all the power that has already been transferred to the absolute destroyer." Anjuu said.

"What's that mean…?" Erena wondered.

"She already arranged a back-up program which Nozomi had and she copied it for me. if things don't go smoothly for them, it's our job to make it happen. The program she made will reverse the growth of the absolute destroyer and force all of her power back to where it belongs. But then, nobody loves this absolute destroyer, right? Why would anyone want her reborn? It will only destroy both worlds and, as we can see, people love at least one world." Anjuu said.

"Haha, you right, no one harbors special feelings towards this absolute destroyer so why bother resurrecting it completely? After all, the world with them is so much more important than this absolute destroyer." Tsubasa said.

"I'm sorry to break this news to you, but our scouts told us that there are also people who wanted to support the world's destruction." Erena said.

"What?" Anjuu and Tsubasa turned to her.

"These people… they support the Absolute Destroyer. They hate the world so they want a massive self-destruct to happen." Erena continued.

"Well-well, who could've guessed that some people would actually go in that direction?" Tsubasa said.

"That's unexpected. I wish these people would go kill themselves already. They don't have to bring us all with them." Anjuu said.

"That goes for us too, huh? If we are happy with living, we don't have to force them to be happy and let them sink down to the depths of their own darkness." Tsubasa said.

"You are right, oh how ironic!" Anjuu said.

"For some reason, I can't counter that argument. It's not invalid but it's not right too." Erena said.

"Don't worry Erena-chan, the most important thing for us is to accept and respect each other's decision. Not that you are not allowed to speak your mind. Sometimes it's necessary for a better future." Anjuu said.

Erena sighed.

As soon as the three finished their conversation, they noticed a random tamer saluting to them.

"Oh, you have been here? What's up?" Tsubasa asked.

"T-this is a bad news that we got from our scout… related to the topic just now." The tamer said nervously.

"What is it exactly?" Anjuu asked.

"The Absolute Destroyer Fanatics declared that they finally found a way to hasten the Absolute destroyer's rebirth. Now some of our people are trying to stop them, but it seems that they've got some digimons with them as well."

* * *

 **see you on the super long ending chapter!**


	17. Ch17: At The End of Sorrow

**Last chapter! Took a while! But thanks for waiting!**

* * *

The Digital World—City of Memory's outskirts;

"Haaaaah! We are on the run again!" Honoka complained as she sat on Ichigo. He has turned into a similar dinosaur-like digimon with metal arms and mechanic chest. They are sitting somewhere in the forest behind a big hill.

"My-my, why are you complaining, ginger honey?" Heidr asked with her friendly, motherly voice.

"I wonder when we will actually be finished if we keep running." Honoka replied with a pout.

"We are not running at all, we are just trying to use other means other than a direct approach." the purplenette beauty replied.

"Why we can't use a direct approach? It seems faster that way!" Honoka said.

"So that you will not hurt your world… just imagine how destructive everything will be if the city of memory is about to use its super weapon."

"My… world?" Honoka started to think

"Both of these are your worlds, aren't they?"

"Yeah, they are. Maybe you are right. I shouldn't hurt the worlds too much."

Heidr giggled to her response.

"So, how is it, power girl? Are you ready to get to the next stop?" she asked.

"Then infiltrate the City of Memory? How can we get there though? The guards of the city are hostile towards us!"

"That's why it's called 'infiltration' since we will get there without their knowledge."

"Ohh! Like a spy?" Honoka asked cheerfully.

"Yep, like a spy." Heidr nodded.

"What about me? I think I'm too big to be hidden." Ichigo said.

"Don't you worry about that. Remember that you can de-evolve in the City of Memory." Heidr said.

"Oh!" Honoka raised her eyebrows before she jumped down to the ground.

"Right!" she continued as she quickly operated her digivice. Ichigo devolved back to Agumon.

"There we go." Heidr said.

"Hnng… Honoka-chan, for some reason, I feel like something is different when you devolved me." Ichigo said.

"Really? What's the difference?" Honoka asked.

"It's like there's no longer anything that limits me." Ichigo said.

"I can help you explain that." Heidr said.

"Really, Heidi-san? Please tell him why!" Honoka said.

"The ribbons that limit the evolution's growth no longer exist since the amount of burst evolution everyone did weakened them. Umi-chan's and your burst evolution also triggered the breaking and it was what caused File Island to crumble."

"Eeeeh?! So we are somehow a misfortune for them?" Honoka smirked in horror.

"No, you are not. You are the one who tell them the truth that their File island is no longer the file island they lived in. The mystery behind the disappearances of the Digimon there is because they went to the City of Memory before they got a boot away from the domain.

"Is that so?! But why did they do that?"

"To prevent their popularity from plummeting… File City is one of the most popular in the Digital world So, if the City of Memory wanted to take all the credit as best place for business, they need to get all the cities like File City to be removed from their domain."

"That's dirty!" Honoka commented angrily.

Heidr giggled to her comment again.

"Why didn't they just cooperate with them?!" Honoka pouts.

"Maybe because Jijimon is such a kind Digimon? He has experience with human beings and I suppose he wanted to keep them comfortable instead of focusing on having business with them." Heidr replied.

"See?! Now I'm a lot more eager to kick the City of Memory away from the domain!"

"That's the spirit." The purplenette gave out her gentle smile.

"But anyway, Heidi-san! Tell me! If you have to pick one, which world do you like most? Is it the real world or the digital world?" Honoka asked.

Heidr averted her heterochromatic eyes. .

"I can't pick either of them." she said.

"You bet! Me too! It's hard to choose between them! I mean, the real world is where I grew up and where everything 'normal' happens but the Digital world provides us with adventures! I can't believe that it has to come down to this kind of fight! Why can't they just ignore the absolute destroyer?! Why can't we just live happily ever after?"

Heidr, once again, giggled.

"You are such a feisty girl, aren't you? No wonder Tsubasa loves you so much."

"H-Heidi-san! Please stop mentioning her! I'm trying to focus!"

"But is it wrong to think about someone you love during the heat of battle?"

"Eh? If we do that, we will lose our focus!"

"Maybe it's just because of the way you think."

"Really? How so?"

"If you think about achieving victory for someone you love, then you might be able to focus on the battle more than anyone else."

"Hnng…. But I don't think I love Tsubasa-chan that much. I mean, I still don't know how I actually feel."

"Yet she is so all over you, what a cute couple." Heidr giggled again.

"But for real, do you think I love Tsubasa-chan?"

"How could you ask something like that to me?"

"Hmnm… because, Heidi-san somewhat looks like Nozomi-chan?"

"What?"

"You looked like someone who can read someone's mind."

"I'm not that powerful. I'm just an ordinary woman without Lucemon next to me."

"Hoooo! Really?! I thought you are a lot more powerful than that! I mean like, you know, there's a sensation like you are capable of doing a lot of things?"

"Hehe, alright, Honoka-chan, you got me. I can show you a few tricks."

"A few tricks? What do you mean?" Honoka asked again.

"Hmm? I thought you want to see me performing a few tricks."

"Uhm… are you like, a magician?!"

"Surely, let's perform a few magic tricks."

"Uoohhh! Uh, then, can you make me taller?"

"Alright, you got it." Heidr replied before she lifted Honoka and placed her on top of Ichigo's head.

"Eeehh!? This is not a magic trick! You just placed me on top of Ichigo!"

"Oh? My bad. Then, do you want to get on my shoulder? You'll get taller that way."

"That's just the same thing!"

Heidr giggled at her.

"Hmmm… fine, then how about this, can you make bird appear from somewhere?"

"You got it." Heidr said before she started to look around.

"Don't tell me, you are about to find the bird first?" Ichigo said.

"Ah, looks like Ichigo knows my plan!"

"Sheesssh! Heidi-san! Then it's also not a magic trick!"

"Ahahaha, I'm sorry. I guess I'm good for nothing, after all." Heidr said with her playful smile.

"Ah well, I guess let's just go to the next st—…."

"Wait a minute, I sense something!" Heidr cut in.

"You sense something?" Honoka wondered.

"Hnngg… Honoka-chan! I sense something too!" Ichigo said.

Then they all could feel a very huge presence lingering right behind them. They turned around and—…

"Cannondramon!" Heidr said as she recognized the dragon-like digimon with four armored feet and a pair of canons on its back.

" _Target detected—starting annihilation!"_

The voice came from Cannondramon.

"Oh dear!" Heidr quickly grabbed Honoka and Ichigo.

A quick shot was aimed at them but it missed somehow,though they are far from being safe. They need to run as quick as possible—which they did immediately after the first shot caused an explosion on the ground.

"Gggaaahh! Honoka-chan! Evolve me!" Ichigo said.

"R-Roger that!" Honoka said before she quickly tried to operate her digivice as Heidr dragged them away.

"Don't worry about that! Lucy is nearby!"

"He is?! But where?!" Honoka asked.

"No idea, but I got the feeling that he is only a few miles away from the City of Memory!"

"That's not nearby, Heidi-san! That's like more than a thousand miles away from here!"

"Really? Then I'm sorry, my geography sucks."

"Hooonoookaaaa! Evolve meeeee!" Ichigo begged.

"R-Right!"

And within seconds, Honoka evolved her Ichigo to the metallic dinosaur-like digimon. Before the two realized it, Ichigo placed Honoka and Heidr on his head and he kept running until he eventually flew up in the air.

"Woaaah! Ichigo! I didn't know you can fly this high!" Honoka appreciated.

"Aaaah! We are going in the wrong direction!" Heidr said.

"Gaaah! Heidi-saaan!"

"To the right, Ichigo!" Heidr said as she pointed to the left.

"You are pointing to the left, Heidi-san!" Honoka said.

"So, left or right? I can't see where you are pointing." Ichigo asked,

"Left!"

Ichigo flew to the left as the Canondramon still tried to catch up to them. It appears that he can't take a proper aim when Ichigo kept moving around while flying.

"Heidi-san, how could you be so bad at directions." Honoka sighed.

"Well, you're suddenly good at directions." Heidr said.

"I might be bad if we are dealing with North, West, South and East, but left and right are just the most basics!"

"Ah, you are right. So I'm left."

Honoka remain silent for a bit to process about what Heidr was trying to say.

"Gaaaah! Heidi-san! Is that a pun?!"

"It took a while for you to process that, I'm amazed." Heidr said.

Honoka sighed heavily before a call came in on Honoka's digivice.

"Honoka-chan!" Kotori's voice was heard.

"Ohh! Kotori-chan, what's up?"

"We are chased by ten Parrotmons!" Umi's voice was heard.

"Looks like the City of Memory is really trying to stop us from our mission." Heidr said.

"Suzaku is trying to get us to the safest place possible. Any ideas?" Kotori asked.

"As a Garudamon, she should be able to fly them to where Lucy is." Heidr said.

"And where's your Lucemon, Heidi-san?" Umi asked politely.

"Hmm…to… the north?" Heidr said.

"Is that really north?" Honoka asked.

"No idea." Heidr said.

Kotori and Umi sighed heavily.

"Now that's a problem…" they said together.

They tried to think for a moment.

"Aah! Why don't you two just follow our movement? Shouldn't you two be able to see us from the mini map?" Honoka asked.

"Oh-oh! W-wait! What about, you two teleport to where we are?" she added.

"Yep, then get chased by Cannondramon with us." Heidr said.

"Uhhmm… I think we are just going to fly there, you are pretty close." Kotori said.

"Yes, Yamato will prepare to fight."

"Sweet, Black Were Garurumon in action has always been my favorite." Heidr commented.

"Th-thanks…" Yamato said.

"Don't worry about your master's expectation. It's not wrong to be one of the dark creatures… they are beautiful and exotic in their own way." Heidr said.

"T-thank you for that again, Heidi-san. But Umi has accepted me as who I am." Yamato replied politely.

"Yes, my apology for how I was previously. I realized that it was meant to make me realize that we are perfect with diversity, not with a specific standard."

"Wow, what happened before this?" Honoka asked.

"Hehe, Umi-chan and Yamato-chan saved me the trouble of fighting some Data Digimon. They were after me but they got them." Kotori said.

"But we can't fight these aggressive Parrotmons! We don't have any other choice but to run!" Umi said.

"Then, something that needs to be flipped around, right?" Heidr said.

Kotori and Umi remained silent for a moment.

"Aaaahh! Umi-chan! Here I have this card for you!" Kotori said agitatedly.

"R-Reverse type evolution…?" Umi said.

"Yes! Use it!"

Half a minute passed before they can hear Umi's excited squeal.

"Aaaaah! W-Were Garurumon! This is like a dream come true!" she said.

"Hehe, I totally forgot about that! Thank you so much, Heidi-san!"

"Kotori! What do I owe you for this dream come true?" Umi asked excitedly.

"Hehe, we can talk about that later. Go kill them already!"

"Got it! Let's put our lives on the line, Yamato! This is the time for warriors to shine!"

"Understood, Umi! Let's fight!"

"Go-go! Umi-chan! Yamato-chan" Kotori cheered before she hung up the phone.

As soon as the call ended, another call came in.

"Honoka-chan! Where are you-nya?!" Rin asked in panic.

"W-what's wrong, Rin-chan?" Honoka asked.

"Niko-chan and Maki-chan are suddenly running to us with a huge poop Digimon! They are coming in a large number!" Hanayo said.

"D-Don't credit me for this! This is all Niko's fault!" Maki said.

"Why are you blaming me for these poop Digimon?!"

"Because you are always the one who attracts them!"

"No way, duh! They are virus Digimon, why would they chase after me?! They are after your Crescemon!"

"I should not have protected you from those turtles!"

"Zudomon! They are Zudomon!"

"Who cares about what they're called… Polymnia killed them for you!" Maki said.

Maki and Niko continue to argue pointlessly.

"Aaahh! It's already taken us so much time attempting to kill what's trying to kill us!" Honoka said.

"Y-yeah! But now we have to run-nya!" Rin said.

"Hmm… this is difficult, your options are Panjyamon, Lilymon, Phantomon, and Crescemon. I would pick Phantomon but knowing the pathetic size, I doubt he can clean them up. So…" Heidr paused.

"Can't you just stop bringing up Chibby's size? He is cute and he will surely pawn your ass in a beauty contest!"

"—ah! Right! Then, all you can do is to keep running!" Heidr said.

"Heidr-san… you really like to joke around, don't you? I thought you were about to give us a useful solution!" Maki said.

"There's nothing you can do in a poop stampede. Just run away and flush them somehow." Heidr said.

"Flush…?" Maki wondered.

"Ah! The sea! We should be going toward the sea!" Hanayo said.

"You are quick at understanding that… good work!" Heidr giggled.

"Alright-alright, everyone, let this cute little girl lead you!" Niko said.

"To flush poop?" Maki said.

"To pollute the sea-nya!" Rin said.

"N-Now I think we are kind of cruel!" Hanayo said.

"Don't worry, there's nothing wrong with feeding the fishes!" Niko said.

"Hang on tight, Leon-chan! I'll carry you and Rin-chan!" Mary said.

"Hey, take us and fly." Maki said.

"I know that, you don't have to tell me, not even once!" Niko said before they hung up.

"Whoaa, Heidi-san, you are surely a good tactician!" Honoka complimented.

"Hmm? I never told them what to do or use. It's not my wit, it's their wit." Heidr said.

"Hehe, but you helped them realize what they should do in their situation! That's impressive!" Honoka said.

Then after another half of a minute passed, another call came in and, this time, it's a group call.

"Everyone!" Eli said immediately after Honoka accepted the call.

"We are ready to launch the domain. The City of Memory will be absorbed and all players and their Digimon will be transported to the real world."

"That includes us?!" Honoka asked.

"Yes, including us." Eli said.

"Wow, I thought we had to go through the hard way? Honoka asked.

"I discovered what Heidr-san told me. There is actually a circuit that we can use to filter players and their Digimon. It's only a one way circuit, though, so we can't return to the digital world with it.. but at least all human will be returned to the real world." Eli explained.

"We will look for a way to return the digimon to the digital world later… what's important right now is to destroy the City of Memory." Nozomi added.

"When will this happen?" Maki asked.

"In fifty seconds." Eli replied.

"Then I have to go for a bit. There's something I need to restore in my office. I doubt they will be offended if their wall is broken." Heidr said before she jumped off Ichigo.

"W-wait! Heidi-san!" Honoka tried to hold onto her but, when she glanced under her, she saw an extremely huge purple Digimon, five pairs of wings with colorful marks as its crown, a golden mask and a pair of huge claws carrying a huge orb, emerging from the surface of the sea under her. The Digimon caught Heidr as if he already knew what she was about to do.

"W-what is that?!" Maki said in awe.

"Lucemon Shadowlord mode…" Kotori said.

"He looked so huge and scary-nya." Rin commented.

"Y…Yamato, looks like your dark form is nothing compared to him." Umi said.

"Is that really Heidr-san's Lucemon?" Hanayo asked nervously.

"Man, what percentage is he on? I can't believe anyone could own such a huge Digimon." Niko said.

Eli and Nozomi didn't comment on its appearance, instead they both are talking about their progress.

Honoka kept her eyes on the huge digimon. It appears that Lucy, the Shadowlord Lucemon, has taken a sharp turn under her and is now breaking the city of memory's wall with ease. She can't imagine if this kind of Digimon is transported into the real world. Will people be frightened?

At the same time, she could see a few strong looking Digimon coming out of the building they recognized as the City of Memory's tournament hall. A few of them look familiar.

"The Royal Knights! They are attacking Heidr-san and Lucy!" Hanayo said.

"Don't do anything else! Don't engage in any battle." Eli said.

"But Heidi-san!" Kotori said.

"It is what is supposed to happen. She is creating a distraction for us." Nozomi said.

"Will she be ok?" Umi asked.

"She will. Despite being an official, she is still a human being and she will be returned to the real world, along with her Lucemon." Eli said.

"So the human officials will return to the Real world too?" Maki asked.

"The living ones, yes." Eli replied.

"W-wait, the living ones?!" Niko exclaimed in surprise.

"Did some of them die-nya?" Rin asked a little sadly.

"The war in City of Memory cost some lives. Those who died here will never return to the real world." Eli said.

"W-what?!" The girls replied.

"Some of the players used the hacked cards to win, just like how they killed my Kuzunoha!" Eli said somewhat angrily.

"So, only those people who were killed with it will not return to the real world?" Kotori asked.

"No. People with broken back up data will also not be able to return. If there's no recoverable data, they will never be able to come back and be read as digital being. But worry not, I know the perfect justice for them. I have already banned a few people for using those cards. They get what they deserve." Eli said.

"E-Eli-chan, you surely hold a big grudge on cheaters." Honoka said.

"Three seconds left, everyone. Get ready!" Nozomi said immediately before anyone can make any other comment.

 _Three!_

 _Two!_

 _One…!_

* * *

The Real world, Otonokizaka High-school;

Honoka found herself on the infirmary bed. She wondered what happened before this, but she is feeling the pain coming from her stomach. She is very hungry and really-really needs to eat something. At the same moment she got up from her bed, Kotori, Umi, and their Digimon in rookie forms walked in with a basket of food.

"Ah, Honoka, I'm glad you are awake. You collapsed right after you stepped into the real world" Umi said.

"Yeah, there are plenty of people being rushed to the clinic. Some are so close to starving to death." Kotori said.

Honoka tried to speak but, for some reason, she feels like she will need to eat the food they brought for her first. Kotori handed her one of the packaged bread inside the basket, which she immediately accepted and unwrapped. She took one big bite and munched on it gratefully. Kotori and Umi joined in with their snacks.

"Apparently, even though humans were digitalized back then, they are still in need of real food. A cyber body only allows you to send data to your brain to convincing your mind that you have eaten something or you are not starving or tired." Ichigo said.

"Its side effects are now being considered by Eli and a few other programmers. They are teaming up in order to hasten the repairs in this world." Suzaku said.

"After the humans returned from the Digital, the fanatics began to disappear. They are convinced that the real world is the only place they can live in. Though, I heard there are still other fanatics we need to face— the AD Fanatics." Yamato added.

"Twhe AwBwe bwanwatwip?" Honoka tried to speak despite her mouthful of bread.

"Yeah, the AD Fanatics, The Absolute Destroyer Fanatics. They are aiming for the complete destruction to the world. Sometimes I think they felt that the AD is just some sort of a joke… but you know that's not true." Ichigo said.

"According to gathered information, not all of those people are aware that supporting the AD is like asking for a real self-destruction. Which means that some of them really think that the AD is merely a part of the game." Suzaku said.

"Some of them also think that if they support AD, they will gain her as an ally. But you know that's not true too. According to a research that done by a mysterious scientist, AD has never been anyone's ally and she will never be. It has its own mind and it will feel like pulling a wild card when communicating with her. AD is immortal and AD will never give mercy to those who bother her."

"That sounds scary. I wonder how this mysterious scientist knows so much about her?" Honoka asked.

"Scientists have their own way to investigate, so who knows? It might just be their imagination too." Umi said.

"By the way, Kayo-chan, Maki-chan, Niko-chan and Rin-chan went to the canteen to eat, Nozomi-chan and Eli-chan are in the Council Room. You need to meet up with them once you are ready." Kotori said.

* * *

The UTX High School;

With the return of people from Digital world, the UTX became busy preparing the necessary support. The A-Rise heard about µ's return as well, though it may be still a little too early to establish communication with them. They believe that they needed to talk about something important.

"So, why are we here? Honoka is in her school's infirmary, wouldn't it be better if we pay a visit?" Tsubasa asked.

"I told you, not until we can figure out what we need to say to them. I don't want you to spit your nonsense on them. They might be still under pressure from the truth that they revealed to us." Erena said.

"I can't believe that deaths like these actually happen too. Some players are so close to starving to death, some are by overexertion, and some by great stress. The cyber body can't keep our bodies alive. The City of Memory lied to us." Anjuu said.

"There's also a fact that, after Eli pulled all players out of the Digital world, some people are already long dead because of this hidden truth. The City of Memory truly needs to take responsibility for their crime." Erena added.

"Yes, in a way, I'm really glad that all this mess happened, else, we will never know. We might let this stay for long enough to slowly annihilate humanity." Anjuu saud.

"Are you two done sulking? We have a task at hand." Tsubasa asked as she operated her digivice.

"What is this task you are talking about, Tsubasa?" Erena asked back.

"Our scout told us that we have got enough tamers with marksman type digimon ready. We can head to that tower and destroy it for good." Tsubasa replied.

"Have you contacted anyone else instead of relying on your intuition?" Anjuu asked.

"Nope, but I'm sure they will agree." Tsubasa said.

Before Erena and Anjuu was convinced, a call came in on Tsubasa's digivice.

"Tsubasa! What on shattering earth are you doing!?" a loud and clear voice was heard.

"Hey-hey, Ayase Eli, why are you calling me all of a sudden just to yell at me?"

"I can see your soldiers lining up around the AD Tower. You know you can't do that yet! I'm still trying to find a way to return the absorbed power back to the digital world without destroying the infant core!"

"Just forget it. The digital world will grow back again. And why are you so worked up about the infant core? We don't need it." Tsubasa said.

"Someone needs the infant core. We need to secure that one and hand it to her."

"Is the person who needs it Heidr…? That one official you were working with." Tsubasa asked.

"Yes, but that's none of your business! All I want you to do is to stop trying to destroy it!" Eli said.

"Which side are you on, Eli? That infant of Absolute Destroyer is dangerous."

"I know that! But I can't simply break my promise." Eli said.

"And why is that? Explain it to me!"

"I—…!" Eli pauses.

"I can't explain but, please, give me thirty minutes." She continued.

"Alright, I'll postpone the attack for thirty minutes but that is all you get." Tsubasa said.

"Thank you, I'll hurry now." Eli replied before she hung up.

* * *

Otonokizaka High school's canteen;

"Aaahh! I'm full now-nya!" Rin said cheerfully.

"Who would've expected that we would all get this hungry." Maki said as she looked at the stack of bowl on the table.

"Yeah, I thought I ate enough in the digital world but it looks like the cyberbody isn't as good as we thought."

"Can't blame you. They discovered the side effect just now. Looks like The City of Memory's workers are all in a big trouble now. Put aside about how they will no longer be able to work in it." Maki said.

"Eli-chan said that The City of Memory is no more. It's easier than she expected since she was just following Heidr-san's lead." Hanayo replied.

"I wonder why Heidi-san betrayed her own people though? I mean, I thought she was an official-nya?" Rin asked.

"I don't know, maybe Heidr-san was trying to make us realize about this. She is such a kind woman." Maki said.

"Yeah, Heidr-san is really a kind one… even though it's hard to decipher her intentions sometimes." Hanayo replied.

"I agree. She is a very complicated as a person." Maki said.

Suddenly, Sakuya in her Renamon form and Eli approached them.

"Have any of you seen Honoka?" The blonde asked.

"Yeah, she went to the middle yard with Kotori and Umi." Maki replied.

"Thank you." Eli replied before she left while Sakuya took a little time to bow to them before leaving with her.

The trio remained silent as they wondered why someone like Eli is suddenly taking her time to look for Honoka.

* * *

The Middle Yard;

Honoka, Kotori, and Umi sat on the bench around the big and tall tree. They are still munching on some snacks they recently bought from the canteen.

"Aaaah! Even though this is the sixth bread I ate today, I'm still hungry!" Honoka shouted.

"Here's another one, Honoka-chan!" Kotori handed her another.

"Don't worry. It seems that we left the real world for about 45 hours… It's close to two days of not eating anything." Umi said.

"Yeah, also, you are not the only one who fainted after getting transported back to the real world. Everyone did!" Kotori said.

"Except for A-Rise since they just spent about 22 hours in the Digital world." Umi said.

"But Anjuu-chan told me that even those hours already make them eat a truckload of food." Kotori added.

"I wonder who picked us up?" Honoka asked.

"Eh, well, we were all transported back to our homes. Our parents took care of us—except for Nozomi-chan— my mother told me that it was Eli's little sister who took care of her. She just knew that she should do that for her." Kotori said.

"Then, Eli-chan's sister took care of both Eli-chan and Nozomi-chan?"

"Yep, your little sister supported her. Did you know that she is the one who took you to the infirmary?" Umi said.

"Yukiho did?!"

"Yep, she said it because your room is now used to keep her Veemon."

"W-Whaaat?! She placed me in the infirmary so that she can keep her Veemon!? What kind of sister is she?!" Honoka protested.

"I believe that was a joke, Honoka. Maybe your sister is too shy to admit that she cares about you." Umi said.

"Why I can't have a cute little sister like Eli-chan's sister?!" Honoka protested again, ignoring Umi's remark.

"Ah, speaking of which, they also told me that all the rooms we made in the City of Memory still remains. They said that Eli-chan and Erena-chan are the ones who programmed the rooms to be able to exist independently." Kotori said.

"I wonder why they bothered to do that, though? I thought they planned to put all Digimon back to Digital world later?" Umi asked.

"It's to help players keep their Digimon. With the new system finally built, we don't have to worry about where to keep our digimon." Kotori said.

"Then why does Yukiho keep her Veemon in my room?!" Honoka said—still bitter about being placed in the infirmary for Veemon's sake.

"Looks like she found out only after we told them about it. Before we returned, she couldn't access her room when the connection completely cut off and it was lucky that she was able to summon her Veemon through her Digivice. She told me she is preparing a few things before she can fully place her Veemon in his own room and return your room's ownership." Kotori said.

"So, how does the new system work?" Honoka asked.

"They are now working in offline mode. Anjuu-chan is the one who gave them the idea of erasing all of the City of Memory's services in the Digivice and use the leftover memory to contain the room." Kotori said.

"So we can't look for information about the City of Memory now?" Honoka asked.

"No, we can't. It's completely purged." Umi said.

"Well, I guess that's fi—…!" Honoka paused.

"Wait! Wait! What about the Digimon inside it?!" she asked in panic.

"Ah, that? I don't know. But Anjuu-chan said some useful Digimons were carried to the real world—like the Cooking Guild leader, Black War Greymon." Kotori said.

"H-Him? What does he do now?"

"He has been enjoying much of the real world's food. He said he is fired up about feeding all the hungry human beings as a sign of his gratitude for the delicious treats." The ash brunette said with a giggle.

"Whoaa… that's very useful of him." Honoka said.

Just a second later, a tall blonde stopped near them, along with her tall, fox-like digimon.

"Honoka! There you are." Eli said

"Oh, Eli-chan!" Honoka greeted her cheerfully.

Eli seems to doubt something but, after a while, she shook her head and finally spoke.

"Please, keep this conversation between us only. I don't want anyone else to hear it."

"Alright, what is it exactly about, Eli-chan?" Honoka asked.

"I assume that all of you already know about my arm?" Eli said.

"Which arm?" Honoka asked again.

"The one that lights up when you are close to a specific data, right?" Kotori said.

"Yes. I lied about not knowing why." Eli said.

Honoka, Umi, and Kotori remained silent and listened.

"I know so well about it. It's just that I have to pretend to not know so Nozomi wouldn't worry about me."

No one budged as they listened to Eli's story.

"Back when I completely lost my Kuzunoha, I was so desperate to find a way to resurrect her. I kept searching for anything related to it, even if I had to sneak into the official's files. Then I found out about a file called the 'Ressurection project.' I was so hyped and I tried to decipher its security passwords that very night." The blonde continued with a soft sigh at the end of her last sentence.

"But that very night, too, I saw a faint transparent being with bright blue eyes facing me… it looked like a woman with wings. I was scared but I tried to deal with it thinking it was just a trap that they set up to scare hackers… but in that very second, when I thought that everything will be alright, that woman reached out to me and grabbed my hand. Ever since then, the marks began to be appear and I can't touch my digivice anymore." she continued.

"W-wait! Do you mean that creature actually pushed her hand through the screen and reached you?!" Honoka asked.

"Is that even possible?" Umi said in surprise.

"W-why is this suddenly turning into a horror story?!" Kotori said.

"I'm sorry, but I didn't make that up. That woman also told me: _your greatest desire is what I need_."

"It's resurrection, isn't it?" Umi said.

"Yes, it's resurrection. I don't know what exactly it was trying to say to me, but I thought that kind of thing will make people worry about me. I never mentioned that to anyone and I've been pretending to not know about anything." Eli said.

"Actually, Eli-chan, I heard the same words spoken to me, except they also told me what I desire to have. It's power." Honoka said.

"Same with me, I desired Diginity and I never know what to reply to it." Umi said.

"I personally never heard of that, but then, I'm pretty bad at memorizing something spoken. Maybe I just missed it somewhere?" Kotori said.

"I don't know, but anyway, it's not the thing I'm trying to talk to you about." Eli said.

"Then, what is it exactly?" Honoka asked again.

"I have been living in guilt every time I see Nozomi worry about me and working up so much to find an answer to this mark that appeared on my arm. At the same time, I also tried so hard to cover all the clues that could reveal the answer. I feel really bad and—… I tried to ask Heidr-san how to get rid of this."

"What did she tell you?" Umi asked politely.

"She told me that a sacrifice is needed. I asked what I need to sacrifice and she said I have two options: a guarantee that the infant core will be unharmed or something that is most important to me."

"What is the infant core?" Kotori asked.

"It's the name for Absolute Destroyer's premature body. I don't know how she got that thing, but either way, all she requested of me was to secure it. That's why I made that tower and cover it with the thickest shields possible."

"You made that tower?!" Umi said in her surprise.

"Yes, sorry I had to pretend to not know about it. But I can assure you, it's harmless. It won't hatch as long as no one tries to connect the Infant Core to its true power source."

"It's true power source?" Honoka, Umi and Kotori wondered.

"Yes. Heidr told me that, even though the whole world is trying to give their power to it, it will never connect as long as the true power source is not there to be its bridge. That's why we can ignore the fanatics and let them exhaust themselves while we all focus to how to return all Digimon to the Digital world and restore the real world to its normal state."

"How long do you think it would take before it can happen?" Umi asked.

"Honestly, I don't know. It's hard to predict if I don't even know why Digimons are appearing in the real world. Even though I have shut down all the sources of the copy-paste bug, wild Digimons are still appearing out of nowhere." Eli replied.

"Is it at least decreasing the problem?" Kotori asked.

"It is but it's still not a solution so I wouldn't call that 'completely solved.'" Eli replied.

"Alright, I guess I understand your situation now, but, why did you tell us all this?" Honoka asked.

"I want you to convince Tsubasa to not destroy that tower. The shield took their energy from there and if the tower is destroyed, then the shield will be gone and it will harm the infant. I will not fulfill my promise to Heidr-san."

"So what?" A familiar voice is suddenly heard from nearby. Everyone turn their eyes to this someone.

"Tsubasa-chan!" Honoka said in her surprise.

"Hehe, I knew you will try to convince her. So I came here to hear it out. Sorry, it looks like it's not a private talk after all." Tsubasa said.

Everyone suddenly turned silent as they watched Tsubasa approach them.

"So what if you can't fulfill your promise? The way I see it, you are just being mind-controlled through your despair. Calm down and start thinking more clearly." She continued.

"I'm sure that I'm not being mind-controlled, I—…!"

"Ericchi!" Another familiar voice is heard.

"Nozomi…" Eli turned around.

"She is right. There's nothing to fear. We have made it this far, you have learned a lot about programming and everyone has grown up." The young purplenette said.

"Sorry I was really curious why you suddenly went out of the council room without telling me your reason. But, putting that matter aside, Ericchi, if that's what you were worried about, then I'm telling you that I won't mind working for you. I'll do it and we will get through it together." She continued.

"I know you won't mind, but—…!"

"What's with you and your big head? Do you think you have to do everything by yourself?" Another familiar voice is heard.

"Maki…" Eli is surprised to see her walking closer with Rin and Hanayo.

"It's been on my mind for a while now, but I hate it when someone tries to do all the work herself. That problem of yours sounds serious. I can't believe you tried to hide it from us, especially after you worked so hard to keep us all safe." The red haired girl continued.

"See? If someone is threatening to take away what's most important to you, then that someone is as cruel as the cruelest devil. You don't have to do everything by yourself." Tsubasa said.

"I don't think that's the right thing to say since I do believe that sacrifices are sometimes needed but. in this case, I agree that no one needs to lose what's most important to them. Everyone wins." Nozomi said.

"But now we know Heidr-san's true colors. I can't believe she caused you that much trouble." Hanayo said.

"Just a while ago, we thought she was so kind-nya!" Rin said.

"Maybe it was only an act to convince us, I mean, I wouldn't trust someone so easily. Especially someone who barely tells us about themselves." Maki said.

"Either way, I'm hyped to solve this matter! Let's work together to find justice-nya!"

"Wait, don't you think it's a little too fast for us to say that we will work together to solve this? I mean, after all, we are not really fond of each other yet. Have we really worked together to solve something?" Hanayo asked.

No one responded to Hanayo's question.

"Heh, looks like no one spoke up to confirm it." Maki said.

"Ehehe, then I guess we are not that trustworthy, huh?" Honoka said with awkward smile.

"Actually, we did." Eli said. Everyone seemed to be surprised that Eli spoke up in a somewhat friendlier voice. They can even hear Eli starting to giggle.

"Let's review what we have been doing. First of all, we gathered together, even if it was because Principal Minami forced me to pay attention to each of you as your student council president. Honestly all I planned to do was to create a home and make you all play around on your own. But Nozomi forced me to make you all work together somehow so I made up an excuse… it wasn't _that_ expensive to build home in City if Memory." Eli said.

"The only expensive thing is what's inside it. In other words, the donated money was not spent on materials but on the facilities and memory space." Nozomi added.

"I remember now. While we are all building our home, there was a time when we actually tried to do one thing together. The most memorable one was the time when we tried to move Honoka's tent since she was sleeping so deeply and no one was able to wake her up." Umi said.

"Ah! There was that! Yes! Then because of your bad sleeping habits, your tent moved a little too far away. We decided to ignore that and just hope that no one gets hurt." Kotori said.

"T-There, you two! Why are you mentioning something so embarrassing?!" Honoka protested.

"It's true, we actually did something together because of you and your troubles." Eli said.

"There was also the time when you and Niko suddenly appeared along with the absolute destroyer… some of us lost it and started to run to save you. We worked hard to save you through all that mess." Umi added.

"If I have to give a little additional explanation, Ericchi was worked up to save Honoka and Ichigo, that we went into that tournament hall and was forced to use Mastemon's power. Again, it's because of Honoka-chan and her troubles." Nozomi said.

"It was?!" Honoka said.

"Don't worry, sometimes you are not the only source of problems. Someone else somehow drags me into trouble, but I can consider that her to help me learn about teamwork since I had fun and that's all I need in my life." Maki said.

"You mean Niko-chan?" Hanayo said.

"Ooh! Right, she was causing little problems back then-nya!" Rin said.

"In the end, everyone caused trouble at some point and the other always come to help. We were all born to be a team." Kotori said.

Eli chuckled to herself.

"Right. What am I thinking, why would I come to you to beg for that? I should've come to you for something else." She said.

"And that something else is…?" Honoka wondered.

"Honoka, I don't know what ideas would enter your mind, but… what do you think you can do if I ask you for help?" Eli asked,

"H-honestly, Eli-chan, I don't know. Seeing your situation, you seem like you are in a pinch and have no idea what to should do. Maybe you were thinking that you'll be at a disadvantage, either way. I don't know what the Infant core or whatsoever will do if it is damaged, but, you said that you can guarantee that it won't do anything unless it's connected to the true power source…" Honoka said.

"And if you look at it from my perspective, the infant core might be a danger to humanity. That someone you call Heidr might be trying to trick you to buy her some time until she finds the real power source. We can destroy the tower, let the infant core be destroyed and see how she will react." Tsubasa said.

"We don't know what exactly she needs from that infant core. Maybe she truly needs for something good? I mean, Heidi-san seems to be a kind woman to me and she helped us many times, wouldn't it be too cruel to accuse her of planning something bad?" Honoka said.

"That's true, but let me smite you with my logic. The Infant Core is said to be the 'object' that will eventually turn to what we fear as the physically reborn Absolute Destroyer; therefore, it's going to be a big problem if someone misuses it. Then, one of you mentioned it… none of us knows anything about her since she never introduced herself fully. What if she was actually someone from an organization with plans for world domination?"

"World Domination?! T-that's a little too much, Tsubasa-chan!"

"I'm serious. Let's not forget that Heidr-san was working in City of Memory. She can't just be an ordinary staff, especially if her Digimon partner is a Lucemon—a digimon that has not been fully tamed yet." Tsubasa said.

"I… happen to know something about her." Nozomi said.

"Ah, right, Nozomi-chan, you seem to be the closest with her. What information do you have for us?" Honoka asked.

"Sorry, I can't really tell you, but what I know about her is that she isn't well-known among the staff… they just happen to respect her because of her partner Digimon. They always called her Heidr or… Heidi. But none of the staff knows her complete name. She told me that she happens to have the same family name as someone among us, but that wouldn't be something to be bothered about. Plenty of humans in this world has the same family name but are not related by blood." The young purplenette explained.

"Then, she is also a mysterious person among the City of Memory staff? Now that tells us something. Maybe she is an agent from a top secret organization? A Spy?! Then that tells us how she can stay without being suspicious." Tsubasa said.

"Why don't we just go ask her? We are still her allies at the moment, after all." Maki said.

"That's true, but what if she turns against us? Wouldn't that be dangerous?" Umi replied.

"From my point-of-view, as long as we are prepared, we should be able to deal with her. Let's try to get her to speak about herself so we know what exactly we should do to that infant core." Tsubasa said.

"Unless Eli has something else to say about dealing with her." she continued as she looked towards the tall blonde.

"Heidr-san has never really forced me to do anything, only suggesting things from time to time. I guess it was like what you said, I was too desperate and it made me look like I was mind-controlled." Eli replied.

"Don't worry, it's psychologically normal for you to act that way. If I was desperate, I would do something like that too." Tsubasa said.

"N-Now-now, that's a confession we don't want to hear. Especially after we heard that you have authority to take military action." Kotori said.

"You have… what?" Umi smirked,

"Oh, right, I didn't tell you yet, huh? I guess only Eli knows. I was assigned as commander-in-charge for every military movement. Sebastian made quite a name and I even got the authority to assign group leaders any action I wanted done."

"Just how could you have that authority… huh? Why won't they just leave it to the adults?" Maki asked.

"I told you, Sebastian made quite a name and they thought that assigning military strategies to someone who knows about Digimon is better. Beside, it's not like I actually take care of all military grouos… I only avquired the right to control Digimon tamer movements, not the actual military with tanks and everything else. That's not my job." Tsubasa said.

"Anjuu-chan also told me that you often had fight with Erena-chan, because you often make a decision without thinking about the defenses. Erena-chan had to keep up with that for you." Kotori said.

"Who needs defenses if you can kill everything with one big and accurate shot or counter attack them?" Tsubasa replied.

"Full offense… as expected from her." Eli sighed.

"Hehe, I have to agree, though… full offense also seems to be a lot more convenient to me." Honoka said.

"See? This is why we're fit for each other, Honoka! Why are you not my girlfriend yet?" Tsubasa asked.

"Tsu-Tsubasa-chan! Can we think about that later?"

"Oh, my bad. So where were we?"

"We need to contact Heidr-san and decide what to do to that infant core…. then we also have to figure out what Eli should do to that arm of hers." Maki said.

"Ah, right, so about your arm. Didn't you try to investigate further?" Tsubasa asked.

"We did but we still have no idea about what data causes my arm to react. All we know is that the arm reacts to my digivice and those wild digimon that appeared in File City before. I used to feel pain every time there was a reaction but, lately, the pain was replaced by a weird sensation. I can't describe the feeling." Eli replied.

"Hmm, that's hard." Tsubasa placed her finger on her chin.

"Maybe it has something to do with those security barriers we broke?" Umi asked.

"I suspected the same thing." Eli said.

"But, then again… if the security barrier is gone, why are we still able to control our Digimon's evolution? Isn't that meant to be a limit?" Umi asked again.

"We were searching for the answer and some sources say that Digimon evolution is naturally dynamic—they can move backward and forward according to their situation. There are also some sources that say: if a Digimon shares their bond to a partner, they might share a will-power that may enable them to evolve to something beyond the limit. So yes, Security barriers are merely what the City of Memory system created to enable them to limit tamer and digimon bond." Nozomi replied.

"Ah, right, Heidi-san told me the same thing! She said the City of Memory is focusing their system on business, which is why they are trying to get their players pay to be able to evolve their Digimon. Now that they are gone, maybe we can evolve our Digimon further without caring about their limit?" Honoka said.

"Heidr-san told you that? Then, she can't possibly be cooperating with them." Tsubasa said.

"Heidr-san never liked City of Memory. She was also the one who helped us break it." Nozomi said.

"The last I heard, she had a little trouble with the Royal Knights, but she said that they are already done. I don't really know how she ended up facing the Royal Knights." Eli said.

"Heidr-san fighting the Royal Knights on her own?" Tsubasa said.

"With her Shadowlord Lucemon." Eli said.

"Shadowlord Lucemon, huh? How could that thing beat all the Royal Knights? He is supposed to be the one who is beaten." Tsubasa said.

"Sizes and Enchantment, or perhaps she sabotaged the Royal Knights' data. She is very capable of doing that." Eli said.

"Yes. The creature we saw back then didn't look like it is normal sized." Hanayo said.

"While the Royal Knights looked so puny against it-nya… Maybe she really did sabotage them!" Rin said.

"I heard this from her… she said that, as long as they are bound tightly with the City of Memory, it wouldn't take an hour to bend them to her will." Nozomi said.

"Ah anyway! She told me she had to pick up something before Eli-chan transported us all back to the real world. Anyone wonder what it is?" Honoka asked.

Everyone remained silent.

"No?" Honoka asked again.

"Maybe we really should check on her after all. What does she have there?" Maki asked.

"Hmm… again, I'd go straight and just ask all the questions we have, but I don't think I'm the right person to ask. Maybe Honoka can do it?" Tsubasa said.

"Me…?!" Honoka asked.

"Or maybe let's just leave that to Nozomi-chan since she seems to be closest to her." Kotori suggested.

"I agree. Maybe Nozomi-chan is better at talking." Umi said.

"I can't. Not with her." Nozomi replied.

"I can't talk to her either. There's something I am fearful of with her and I can't just come up to her to ask anything." Eli said.

"Then Honoka is really the only person capable of doing it?" Maki said.

"Yeah, no doubt. I don't think any of us can speak with a bold face like her." Umi said with a sigh.

"T-there! I'm not that thick-faced!"

"Let's all go. Don't forget to pick up your Digimon… where did you all leave them?" Tsubasa asked.

"Near the Alpaca's pen, hehe. The Digimon weren't allowed to go near the canteen ever since Ichigo's first visit." Kotori said.

"Eh, Did Ichigo do anything?" Honoka asked.

"He was doing something that you would probably do, as well." Umi said.

"What is it?"

"Trying to get free food." Umi said.

"N-No way! I always pay for my food!" Honoka protested.

"I'm joking, let's get this done for good, ok?"

* * *

The Hotel's Hallway;

µ's and A-Rise stand in front of the door but they are still trying to process what they should do next.

"Is this really where she lives…?" Hanayo asked.

"No doubt. This is the address she gave me." Eli replied.

"Sheesh, what's with all these sudden meetings anyway? I was having a nice slumber after I left the canteen." Niko said.

"You should not have left early, Niko. There were a lot of things you missed." Maki said.

"It can't be helped… I was still tired from all the eating. I think I'm going to gain some weight." Niko said.

"So what are we waiting for? Let's get in-nya!" Rin said.

"Do all of you have your Digimon ready in your Digivice's room?" Anjuu asked.

Everyone showed their Digimon projected on their Digivice's screen.

"Good. If anything happens, you all know how to summon them instantly, right?" Anjuu said.

Everyone nodded.

"Are we really going to face her and ask all those questions? It seems a little too aggressive." Erena said.

"That's why we'll have Honoka ask the questions since she never sounds aggressive when she speaks." Tsubasa said.

"Is that it, really? I get the feeling that you are just trying to escape from the responsibility." Erena said.

"Eli and Nozomi said they were too scared to do it so Honoka is all we have." Tsubasa said as she looked towards the couple who looked somewhat pale.

"That sounds even worse. Why don't you take some responsibility and ask the questions?" Erena stated.

"Now-now, let's get this done already. I'm a little nervous too!" Kotori said.

"If we prove that Heidi-san is planning something bad, then we will no longer doubt Tsubasa's plan… We will need to destroy that tower." Umi said.

"Then we will see her reaction and fight her if necessary." Tsubasa said.

"I am kind of worried, though. I mean, we saw her Lucemon before… it's like that thing could crush us all with one hit!" Hanayo said.

"Don't worry. I have a little trick up my sleeve to prevent her Lucemon from evolving." Erena said.

"Really? You do? That's expected from Defensive people like you!" Tsubasa said.

"Yes, unlike you who probably didn't even prepare anything before this, right?"

"Well, I prepared _that_ , remember?"

Erena rolled her eyes to Tsubasa's response.

"Just, knock on the door already, Honoka. We need to talk to her as soon as possible." Maki said.

Honoka nodded and she decided to knock on the door twice. It took a moment before a woman wearing her hair in a side braid opened the door for them. She smiled gently and her two colored eyes blinked innocently.

"Ah, welcome, µ's and A-Rise. I didn't expect to have this many visitors. I thought it will just be Eli and Nozomi." Heidr said.

"Heidi-san, I—…!"

"Please come in, I don't like talking in such an open space." Heidr cut in before Honoka was able to voice out her first question.

* * *

Inside the room;

Heidr surprisingly has enough space for all of them to sit comfortably. The Hotel room is big and it looked more like a VIP room than a regular one. The windows are huge and bright sunlight poured inside and lit up almost half of the room while the rest remained dark.

"You rented a luxurious room." Tsubasa commented.

"Do you believe that I used to live in the streets back then? It was quite troublesome since I was really bad at technology and I don't even know how to use a cellphone. I started to work as a regular receptionist in Digimon Online and was eventually promoted as a field staff after I learned a few more things." Heidr replied.

Everyone remained silent since they didn't know how to react to that story.

"Oh, sorry, that wasn't what you wanted to hear, right? So what were you trying to ask earlier, Honoka-chan? I believe I heard you trying to ask a question." Heidr said.

"Yes, Uh, Heidi-san. I have a few questions." Honoka said.

"Then, ask away and I'll be happy to answer." Heidr replied.

"Who are you exactly?" Honoka asked.

Heidr didn't seem bothered by the question, though it did take a while before she finally gave an answer.

"You know my nickname. There's nothing else you need to ask about." Heidr replied.

"But what about your personal information? Something that could give us an idea who you truly are?"

"My, why are you so eager to know about me? I'm a married woman. I have a daughter and my husband died in an incident. I died too but my lover resurrected me. No one knows about that but her though, not even my daughter." The woman with two-colored eyes replied in a friendly manner.

"Sorry to hear that." Umi said politely.

"But what does she mean by 'resurrected by her lover'-nya?" Rin asked to Hanayo.

"Maybe it means that her love is resurrected? I don't know." Hanayo replied.

"It's so confusing-nya!" Rin said.

"Are there any more questions you want to ask?" Heidr asked.

"Yes, do you love the world with you?" Honoka asked.

Heidr remained silent for a moment.

"The world I am with is such a beautiful world. Of course I love it." She said.

"Then, what are you going to do with the infant core of Absolute Destroyer?" Honoka asked.

"Is it wrong to take back what belongs to me?" Heidr replied with her gentle smile.

Everyone in the room grew silent as none of them are able to draw out a question after they received such answer from her.

"There, instead of giving me that confused look, why don't you all have some snacks? I think I have them in the kitchen." Heidr said.

"Ooh! Sounds good! Maybe that will give us some energy!" Honoka said.

"H-Honoka!" Umi protested.

"There-there. It's fine. After all, you are all my guests. I have to treat you kindly." Heidr said.

Now some of the girls squinted their eyes at Honoka, expecting her to be a little more responsible to that action, though it seems that the ginger girl remained oblivious.

"Nozomi-chan, you wouldn't mind helping me out a bit, right?" Heidr said as she stood up from her seat.

"N-not at all." Nozomi nodded before she stood up. It's strange that Nozomi who has always been confident acted nervously towards the older purplenette.

The two walked towards the kitchen, though the older purplenette stopped for a moment.

"Ah, I almost forgot… I can't leave my guest alone. I hope someone is willing to accompany the pretty girls?" she said. She looked at them with her usual expression—without a hint of anything suspicious.

Suddenly, a light shone and Lucemon—in the same form from the first time they met—appeared.

"Leave it to me, Heidr." Lucy said gently.

Once the two purplenettes left, Lucy occupied the seat Heidr left.

"So, what exactly are you all planning to do here?" he asked.

"We are just here to ask a few questions." Honoka replied.

"That's it? That's really boring. I was hoping that you were planning to do something. Even though I feel so weary right now, I feel like I could still do something fun." Lucy replied.

"Ah, right, the Royal Knights fought you." Kotori said.

"Yeah, thanks for paying attention to that detail. But those Royal Knights are really something. If my human partner wasn't Heidr, I would've been crushed flat." Lucy replied.

"It was a hard fight for you? That's unexpected." Tsubasa said.

"Heidr and I share the same hobby. We love challenging the impossible. At first we thought that it will be impossible to fight the royal knights, but we did and we even did something better than crushing the Royal Knights. We crushed the so-called Almighty Digimon as well."

"The Almighty Digimon?" Erena wondered.

"That's right. But maybe I should make it clear so that you know who the kill counts belong to. Heidr was the one who beat him. I was just there to provide her a power source that she needed." Lucy replied confidently.

"Kill counts. Sounds like you two are up to something interesting." Anjuu said.

"Haha, of course. I wouldn't want to be partnered with anyone who can't be any good for me. Should I repeat this? Heidr is a very clever woman and she is very powerful. You don't want to know how many kills she has right now."

"For some reason, I feel like this is all just a bluff. How can a human being be stronger than a digimon?" Maki said.

"Good question. I don't know the answer to that one too so you should ask her. Either way, I don't care about the answer. Heidr is my partner and I wouldn't trouble her with such an unimportant question." He replied.

"You think it's unimportant? What if she cheats?" Tsubasa asked.

"Cheats? Hah! The true pride of victory is where you play honestly and still win first place. Besides, what you consider as cheating might just be something we call 'playing with wit.' If you truly want to challenge her then you shouldn't be bothered about what sort of thing she does and focus on the end result. There is no rule in the true battle of wit." Lucy replied.

"Is that so? Then, I'm very curious about how witty she is?" Anjuu said calmly.

Eli seemed to be a little agitated when she heard Anjuu boldly reply with such a challenging statement, though, she appears to be trying to shut her lips for unknown reasons.

"We're back everyone!" Heidr said cheerfully as she pushed a cart full of canned milk with Nozomi quietly following her with a tray of cookies.

"It's pretty old school, isn't it? I'm just an ordinary country lass after all." the woman continued gently.

"Are you really just an ordinary lass? Your Lucemon over here has testified differently." Tsubasa said.

"Did he? Well, he always likes to boast about me." Heidr giggled as she and Nozomi served the snacks and drink to each of the girls.

"Still persistent. It's like she's holding onto her mask so tightly." Hanayo whispered to Maki and Rin who sat next to her.

"Heh, she never showed her true self after all. The only people who had a lot of contact with her were Eli and Nozomi. Those two are also hopelessly being controlled emotionally." Maki whispered.

"They are awfully quiet-nya. It's not really like Eli and Nozomi on their usual days-nya!" Rin said.

"Hey, can anyone give me an idea as to what exactly is happening here?" Niko asked.

"Think for yourself, Niko!" Maki replied to her.

"Huh? That's cruel!" Niko protested.

"Heidi-san, there's something I want to ask!" Honoka said.

"Yes, question and answer section is still open." Heidr replied with her playful smile.

"Why do you have to lie to Eli and Nozomi if all you want is to get that infant core back to you?" Honoka asked.

"H-Honoka! Think of your words a bit! You shouldn't ask something so directly!" Umi protested.

"Honoka-chan…" Kotori sighed.

Eli and Nozomi look paler than before.

"Hmm…it's such an easy question. Are you sure you are going to ask that? Maybe you can try asking about : Who made it possible for it to be created in the real world?, or perhaps, who created the protection?" Heidr replied.

"I believe that I know the answer for the second question, but, can you tell us about the first?" Honoka asked.

"Hmm? Then I guess one of you have made the confession? But the other one still prefers to remain a mystery?" Heidr smiled as her gaze pierced to the younger purplenette.

"It's no surprise. We love living under the shade. Our Digimon even have some similarities with each other." She continued. By the time she mention similarities, everyone turned to Nozomi.

"Should I speak for you… or would you prefer to speak for yourself?" she continued.

"You threatened her as well?" Eli suddenly stood up.

"Eli-chan! Wait! Don't jump to conclusions!" Honoka said.

"No one is allowed to put Nozomi in a state of fear! Eli said loudly.

"But I did not do that… all I did was teach her how to do something and she was the one who decided to use that knowledge." Heidr replied.

Everyone still remained silent while Eli decided to make her move.

"Eli! No! Wait! It's rude to pick a fight with an elder!" Umi said as she held her back.

"Get off me! I'm going to teach her something about keeping her promises! You told me that you will never-ever touch my most important one! Yet there you are terrorizing her!"

"I did not terrorize her. I never did! Why would I plant fear on someone whom I think of as my daughter? If there's anyone who caused her fear, it was you."

"Me? Why would she fear me? We have always been together and I will accept her however she is!" Eli replied.

"Will that change if there's a fact that you've never known about her? The fact that she took away what was important to you just so you would keep your eyes only on her?"

"It will not change! Anything that I possess belongs to her as well and she also gives me the same privilege!"

"Let me give you a hint about what she took from you. It starts with a 'K.'" Heidr smiled playfully.

"Ketchup?" Honoka said.

"Be serious Honoka! Why would Nozomi take ketchup from Eli? She can buy that everywhere!" Umi protested.

"Korn?" Rin said.

"I-It actually start with a 'C,' Rin-chan… Corn, not Korn." Hanayo said.

"How horrible! Nozomi-chan! How could you take King Cheesecake from Eli?! It's hard to obtain! I didn't even get one from today's sale!" Kotori said.

"Kotori! Not you too!" Umi said.

"Did you have kidney problem, Nozomi? If you do, you should've asked me. Think my clinic has a lot in stock." Maki said.

"Oh come on! Maki! How she can take a Kidney without Eli knowing? Be logical!" Niko said.

"Then, what thing do you think she took from Eli?" Maki asked.

"Kettle? That's pretty crucial kitchen stuff."

"You are just as stupid as Honoka." Maki smirked at Niko.

"Said the one who said that she took a 'kidney!'" Niko yelled at her.

Heidr giggled at them with her most amused smile.

"You are all bunch of interesting people indeed." She said.

"Either way! I'm going to ask Nozomi-chan myself!" Honoka said as she turned to Nozomi.

"Nozomi-chan! I think it isn't too late to return what you took!" she said with her friendly smile.

"I… I can't return it. It wasn't a mere object!" Nozomi said.

"It wasn't? Then what did you take?" Honoka asked again.

"It was… Kuzunoha's life." Nozomi said with a voice full of regret.

Now the girls began to see the truth and they were all shocked to silence. The blonde appeared to be the one who was most shocked.

Didn't Eli always mention about how she adored her Kuzunoha? Or show how much she grieved for that one specific digimon she hand-raised? She also showed how much grudge she had on hackers… but what wasn't clear to her most how it happened. How could Nozomi be responsible for the crime?

"Rendered speechless, I see. After all, what she desired most is absolution. She felt bad and has always been overwhelmed with guilt so it is only natural for her to act extremely supportive towards the person she sinned on." Heidr said.

"Enough! Heidi-san! Now that clears up who you truly are!" Honoka said loudly.

"Hmmm? Did I appear to be wearing a mask?" Heidr asked.

"No, but what I've been trying to know about is, are you really a person with two faces? Are you really someone who has the potential to do something so downright cruel? It's answered by your attempt to make us think that Nozomi-chan has never loved Eli-chan and her actions being an attempt at searching for an absolution!" Honoka said.

"You are jumping to conclusions, but let me tell you a few things. All humans are born with more than one face. They act according to what they face. When you were a little girl, you may never have smiled at strangers. When you grew up, you began to realize what hate is and, by the time you are an adult, you are forced to show your smile despite being crushed by those who think they have the right to meddle with your life.

"All those examples are negative, can't it be something a lot more cheerful?" Tsubasa said.

"Yes, once again, you are trying to lead us into thinking that the world is not as beautiful as it is. You lied about loving the world with you, right?"

"I lied? No way, I never lied. I love my world just the way it is."

"Then why did you say such things? Why did you make an example with something so dark?"

"Because I love the darkness. I told you, right? I love living under the shade. It makes me feel powerful. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Have you ever heard of that?"

"Are you suggesting that someone with hatred lives as a strong being?" Umi protested.

"I never said that, you are the one who jumped into such negativity. That wasn't my thought, it was yours. Besides, I never said that I hated anyone. I'm a very loving person." Heidr replied calmly.

"Can you even explain the sentence you just said?" Kotori asked furiously.

"Easily. I really am not someone who holds a grudge… I really never keep them." Heidr replied.

"Just that one sentence and I can assume that you really don't hold grudges, but you pursued instant revenge to satisfy your own feelings!" Erena said.

"I hate to say this, but you are so unfair-nya! You bend people's mind to act according to your will and blame them because they did it!" Rin said.

"Even though you can say that you are not the one who acts, you are still the mastermind. You are guiltier than those who act for you!" Hanayo added.

"Now-now, why are you all so furious at me? Scared to admit that it was because someone was overwhelmed by her own despair? Someone who lustfully tried to claim one's love and went around to look for an opening. Someone who used her knowledge to banish the one who had been taking her lover's time?"

"The hell is with that! She wasn't the cause of the problem! It was you!" Maki said.

"And what evidence do you have to verify that claim? It's not a very high-school-girl thing to accuse someone of a crime she did not even do."

"You are very skilled in reading minds, aren't you? All you did was to give a little push and everything will go according to your will. It pretty much clear how you did everything until now!" Maki argued.

"And how can you prove that I can read someone's mind? Nozomi has never talked to me about what she wanted to do. All I did was teach her how to hack a card and sell to a specific range of costumers. She was a card merchant after all so it's normal for an official to give tips and trick to them. It wasn't my fault if she used it to kill a specific person's Digimon."

"Truth to be told, she has a point, but I can't give this up. There must be a way to counter her argument." Umi said.

"Isn't hacking cards illegal in the City of Memory?" Kotori said.

"Sometimes it's necessary to hack a card. Not all that were produced by the City of Memory are perfect. That's why if a merchant knows how to hack them, it would give them the advantage of having undamaged cards before the City of Memory releases its fixed version." Niko said.

"See? Would you truly blame me for teaching something that every merchant needs?" Heidr said confidently.

"Well, that's a very good argument, Heidr-san. But, would you care to explain why that tower exists? Even if Eli and Nozomi are at fault for it, you are still the one who gave them the instructions. You threatened them and we all should only focus on that fact." Tsubasa said.

"I only gave them the option. They choose to cooperate with me."

"It's not like they have other options. Maybe they don't even know what those things you asked are for." Erena said.

"Is that thing even important to you, Heidi-san?" Honoka asked.

Heidr smiled at her.

"Well, it's just a beginning. I just need to place the real power source inside it to be able to make it important enough for me." she said.

"Have you found it?" Honoka asked.

"Found it? You should've asked if I managed get my hands on her instead." Heidr said.

"Her…?" Everyone wondered.

"Here is the hint, that someone is the one who have the ability to connect herself with the absolute destroyer data."

By the time Heidr said it. Two Digimon suddenly appeared in the room. Lady in her Lady Devimon form and Angel in her Angewomon form.

While Lady took the chance to make her first intimidating strike, Angel pulled Eli to the back of the crowd. Lucy quickly put up a barrier to protect his partner. Lady jumped back to prevent any counter.

"I guess our contract is over, you mad lady. You forced me to expose my crime and you no longer have anything I'm afraid of. I don't care about what Ericchi thinks about me, but one thing is still clear: I will not let you get away with her as your final card!" Nozomi said.

"Is that a declaration of war?" Heidr asked. Her face still remained calm—without even a subtle change in her gentle smile.

"I'll tell you what a declaration of war is." Tsubasa said as she took out her digivice. Heidr raised her eyebrows, wondering what it may be.

"Marksman, strike!" Tsubasa said on her digivice.

Then a very loud sound of gunshot was heard from a distance. Heidr began slightly furrow her brow.

"You are right, that's a real declaration of war." She said. Lucy quickly flew to outside by breaking the windows.

"Ah! Crap! He got away!" Erena said.

"Don't worry about him, he was just trying to do what he should do." Heidr said.

Erena smirked at her response but, instead of holding back, she quickly ran to the broken window, summoned her Owryuumon outside and jumped on his back.

"Well, what about you? Are you going to stay here and wait for us to deliver judgment to you?" Tsubasa said.

"Judgment? Shouldn't that be a desire belonging to the girl over there?" Heidr pointed to Kotori.

"E-eh? Me?" Kotori said confusedly.

"I'm fed up with this woman! Let's go Polymnia!" Maki said as she summoned her Crescemon out of her Digivice.

"Oh, my mistake. Then I guess you all wanted to face real judgment so I have no choice." Heidr said before a portal appeared next to her and a very well-known Digimon appeared from it.

"C-Craniumon!" Kotori said.

Before they realized, a dark shade obstructed the light and the room became very dark. When the light returned, the girls saw that Heidr swapped with a Wyvern Knight-like digimon with white armor and blue wings. He has a pair of horns and red orbs attached to its palm.

"Dynasmon." Niko said.

Before they knew it, Dynasmon and Craniumon launched their first strike. Anjuu quickly summoned her Lotosmon and put up a huge barrier around them.

"Looks like we need to hold this, but I can't do this by myself. I need a back-up. Perhaps Maki-chan or Hanayo-chan can do that?"

"You need data Digimon, huh? Then Hanayo-chan, you are on it. I want to find that woman and teach her a lesson!" Maki said.

"M-me? O...Ok!" Hanayo replied.

"Rin, Let's go after her!" Maki said before she and Rin ran towards the window.

"Kotori! Please assist us!" the red haired girl beckoned.

"Alright!" Kotori prepared her digivice.

"Wait, I'm coming too!" Umi said.

The four of them jumped out of the window before a Garudamon appeared and caught them mid-flight.

"As for us, shouldn't we be heading somewhere else? I bet we need to get you somewhere for a private time." Tsubasa suggested when she noticed the silence between the 'true loving couple.'

"I agree, Tsubasa-chan. If Eli-chan is who Heidi-san is after, we need to somehow get her somewhere she can't reach." Honoka said.

"Just hurry up and make your move. I can't hold this back too long!" Anjuu said.

* * *

Up in the Sky;

Suzaku flew as fast as possible, aiming for the somewhat smaller purple dragon that is trying to reach the tower being attacked by Tsubasa's marksmen. It seems that the tower is very tough and the shield above it refused to crack. If what Eli said was right, then they truly need to work harder to destroy the tower first.

Panjyamon, a Leomon with white fur, was already perched on the Big Red bird's right shoulder, Black WereGarurumon on the left, and the girls, along with Maki's Crescemon, stood on its head.

"Can you do any ranged attacks, Maki?" Umi asked.

"I can, but it won't do anything since Lucy is Virus." Maki said.

"Three of us are Vaccines-nya, we are the ones who can beat him!" Rin said.

"But you and I are excel in melee range so we need Suzaku to get as close as possible." Umi said.

"Honestly, I wouldn't want to fight her Lucemon. He is still too strong for us!" Kotori said.

"Can we still use cards?" Umi asked.

"Ah!" Kotori raised her eyebrow, realizing that she forgot to use that again.

The ash brunette took out her card but it wasn't a card related to evolution. Instead it's a card that improves the speed of Digimons: The Extreme Speed Plug-in card.

"Hold on tight! We are about to enter—…!" Kotori used the card and Garudamon moved ten times faster—fast enough to catch up with the dragon and fly above it.

They saw Heidr looking at them calmly. She really appears to be hard to understand. What kind of emotion does she have right now? Does she really think this is war?

"Polymnia! Attack her face now!" Maki said.

"M-Maki-chan is really upset-nya!" Rin commented.

"Maki, even though she is an enemy right now, you should reconsider your command before Polymnia actually followses your will. Do we really want to provoke that big dragon?" Umi said.

"Ssssh! Be silent! I'm trying to aim!" Polymnia said.

It took a moment for Polymnia to aim her shot And, when she was finally set, she shot ice arrows a few times and followed it up with dark arrows.

Heidr dodged the ice arrows, though she didn't appear to bother dodging the dark arrows, which sunk into her body like it was sinking in water. After the last dark arrow sank, Heidr giggled and she stuck her tongue out at them.

"D-Did she actually just stick her tongue out at us?!" Maki said angrily.

"She did." Kotori confirmed.

"Then!" Rin held her breath.

"Bweeeeeeeeee!" Rin stuck her tongue out at Heidr too.

"Why are you joking at time like this?!" Umi said.

"But she was the one who did it first-nya!" Rin said.

"It doesn't mean you have to respond to her with the same thing. Give her a kick on the face!" Maki said.

"Hehe, as for that one, we need to pin her down-nya." Rin said.

Then suddenly, a big, long, dragon-like creature dashed from the side and crashed into the big purple dragon.

They fell down to buildings which, luckily, were all empty.

"Ooo… That's!" Kotori paused as she tried to identify the smaller dragon.

"Erena's Owryuumon. What was his name again?" she continued.

"Tatsuya." Umi replied.

"I think that crash caused more damage on Tatsuya than Lucy. We need to assist them." Yamato said.

"We need to land, Suzaku." Rin's Panjyamon said.

Suzaku agreed as she gently landed close to the fallen dragon. Once they are able to see it up close, they saw that Erena appeared to be unconscious.

"Looks like they hit themselves too hard." Kotori said.

"Kotori, can you heal her? We need to look for Heidr." Maki said.

"You are so obsessed with her-nya! Do you want to punch her that bad?" Rin commented.

"Of course. Follow me, Rin!" Maki said before she and Polymnia ran to get a closer look at the other side of the huge dragon.

"W-wait for me-nya!" Rin said as she ran with Leon to catch up with Maki and Polymnia.

Kotori took her time to search for medicine while Suzaku focused her energy on casting 'heal.' Erena doesn't look wounded, but their crashes onto the purple dragon at high speed may have caused her to go into shock.

"Do you think we can get Erena to wake up soon? I think we need to check out what Maki might find later, assuming she will be searching for Heidi-san." Umi said.

"Hehe, that's why I'm searching for my wakey-wakey chun-chun water spray now." Kotori said.

"Wakey-wakey chun-chun water spray?" Umi tilted her head.

"I made my own water, mixed with a few fresh mint leaves for the scent. It will wake anyone up instantly!" Kotori said.

"Where do we spray it though?"

"On the face." Kotori said.

"W-what?! Won't the mint be too much for the eyes?!"

"Well, unconscious people's eyes are usually closed so, no problem." Kotori said before she took out her own brand water spray and sprayed it on Erena's face.

Erena quickly woke up as she coughed.

"T-this mint! So… cold!" she said.

"See? Very effective!" Kotori said.

"Are you alright, Erena?" Umi asked.

"I'm fine. I just received a part of his damage. Even though we are now in our real bodies, we still have a small part of our Cyber bodies, which will allow us to share our willpower with our Digimon. It won't be fatal. It's been like this from the start. But honestly though, I feel like this damage is a little too much for me… it almost feels like I've been actually using my head to hit the target." Erena explained.

"We never knew that we shared that kind of thing with our Digimon." Kotori said.

"You will feel it once you are forced to fight a very difficult Digimon. I have felt that way for some time because S-Ranked matches are always like that." Erena replied.

At the same time, suzaku finally casted her heal and awakened the unconscious Owryuumon.

"Ah… Sorry, I think that was more than my own capabilities." He said as he wake up.

"No worries, Tatsuya, I think we got them." Erena said as she looked towards the unconscious big purple dragon next to them.

"Is this really him? I feel like this is a little too early to declare victory." Umi said.

"I'll check them for you all." Yamato said as he walked forward.

He jumped onto the body and began to examine, but after a few steps on its body, Yamato began to feel something strange.

"I wonder if Maki and Rin have already run too far? I can't see the hint of them anywhere." he said.

"Rin is very flexible and swift. I'm not surprised that she can disappear so quickly." Erena said.

"What about the dragon, though? Is this really Lucy?" Umi asked.

"From the color, it looked like it is Shadowlord Lucemon… but something feels off." Yamato said.

A few minute passed, Yamato seemed to still struggle with identifying the shape of the dragon.

"Let's just use the Digivice… I think we can identify him." Erena said as she took out her Digivice and scanned the very dragon.

"T-This is!" Erena's eyes widened.

The purple color crumbled like sand then dispersed into the shadows and exposed dark red dragon skin. The creature also seemed to still be alive as well. Yamato quickly jumped off it and prepared to battle.

* * *

Meanwhile;

The two tamers and their Digimon were walking through the buildings but none of them were able to spot the person they were looking for.

"Hah, I can't believe it. We have walked this far and we can't find Heidr at all?" Maki said with an annoyed tone of voice.

"Maybe Heidi-san is still alive from that fall, after all. She might have escaped and left her Digimon-nya?"

"That might be a possibility, but then there's also the possibility that we shouldn't have looked this far… Maybe she is hiding under those wings." Maki said.

"Hehe, should we go back now-nya?" Rin asked.

Maki sighed heavily.

"If only Niko is here, I could make her do the searching. Her intuition is really good and she has never lost her way." she said.

"Hehe, Maki-chan, you surely like Niko-chan."

"Huh? The hell is with that claim? I don't like her at all!" Maki said.

"You are in denial-nya!" Rin said.

"Geez, no way. I really am not interested." Maki replied again with a blush on her face.

Soon after her denial, the tamers and their Digimon saw a figure walking through the doorway on the side of building in front of them. Because it's dark, they were only able to see the silhouette, but they can see that the figure is a woman and she seems injured.

"Did we just see…an injured woman?" Maki asked.

"My vision says that it really was an injured woman, but I can't see clearly!" Polymnia said.

"I can smell something too from that area. Maybe that injured woman is Heidi-san!" Leon said.

"If she is wounded, then she is in a grape danger-nya!" Rin said.

"You mean, grave danger…?" Maki said.

"Yeah, grape danger-nya."

Maki smirked at her.

"Well, whatever, let's take a look!"

* * *

Back in Heidr's hotel room;

The Royal Knights are still fighting with Neisha the Lotosmon. Despite Hanayo staying behind to give all the possible support with her Mary the Lilymon can give, Neisha seems to be getting more exhausted while the two Royal Knights remained powerful.

"This is bad, looks like I need more fire power." Anjuu said.

"I—I'm sorry, Anjuu-chan! I couldn't be of much help in battle!" Hanayo said,

"What are you saying? You are giving the harmony in battle. Without you, everything will sound as messy as children's parade. Keep supporting me, it's your passion that I need." Anjuu said.

Hanayo seems to be moved with that encouragement.

"Maybe, try to pretend that I'm your best friend, Rin-chan. Try to support me like how you support her. You are always super passionate when doing it, right?" Anjuu continued.

"Like how I support Rin-chan…?" Hanayo began to try to imagine.

How will she support her best friend, someone who is also always supporting her? Can she support someone else like how she supports her best friend?

While the timid girl was overwhelmed with her thoughts, Neisha took another hit for Mary who is still focusing on buff and healing skills. She is trying so hard to keep Neisha's health up, but it seems that it always takes more than double the power to be able to do so. Her Lilymon's skill power is too weak right nowand she has not even had the chance to help deal damage like what Anjuu needs.

"Tch, I'm running out of common cards to use, looks like I finally have to use silvers soon…" the other tamer said, which attracted the timid girl's attention. Is this tamer who appears to be having a hard time actually just saving her silver cards?

Either way, she still needs to be able to support Anjuu and Neisha. Perhaps she could use some items?

"I-I have no choice! I'm going to use items to help you! I have got a lot of—…!"

"Don't use your pile of food, Hanayo-chan. Please save up your belongings for something more profitable." Anjuu cut in.

"Eeeehhhh!?" Hanayo's eyes widened in surprise.

"But! This kind of situation…!" Hanayo said.

"It's not even gold cards yet, we can still hang in there!" Anjuu said.

Now Hanayo is even more confused. Did she plan to win sooner or not?

"We still have silvers, we can use gold later!" Anjuu said.

"So, are we planning to win sooner or later?" Hanayo asked innocently.

"Hmm… I just think we should probably be better off saving up the gold cards. I mean, I don't know if the gold cards will still be useable after the first usage and, since City of Memory is gone, we might never be able to buy them anywhere."

"But, what about your battery? Our time? Shouldn't we help the others look for Heidr-san?" Hanayo asked.

Anjuu remained silent. It seemed like she is trying to calculate something in her head.

"Don't tell me you didn't take those things into consideration?"

"Ehehe… actually, I'm always bad at managing battles so Erena is always the one who arranges tactics for me." Anjuu said.

"Y-you were so confident…" Hanayo cringed in fear.

"I just thought that, since Erena is pursuing Heidr-san willingly, it's the perfect time for me to try to come up with my own battle plan?"

The two become silent. Only the sound of Mary, Lily, and the two Royal Knights fighting each other without even damaging the wall could be heard. Are they actually battling or holding back for a reason?

But more importantly, how could Hanayo be passionate to support someone who doesn't even know how to do things correctly?

"Sorry, were you expecting me to be the brain of our team?" Anjuu asked.

"Nnn… It's not like that…" Hanayo forced herself to smile.

"Hehe, Tsubasa-chan is the spirit of our team, Erena is the brain of the team, and I am the technician of the team. My programming and marketing skills surpass Erena-chan's and Tsubasa-chan's, though Erena often wishes to be able to brush up on her programming lessons while Tsubasa just does anything she likes. I never really got the chance to show off so I spend my time tailoring and making them wear my fashion creations. Though I have to say, I'm pretty forgetful so I tend to clutter unfinished work around or simply lose track of my own schedule." Anjuu replied.

Now that she said it, Hanayo began to think that perhaps, she is currently talking to someone very much like a specific person in her team… someone who somehow always forgets a lot of things and messes up her own schedule.

Either way, do they really have hope in this? Does she need to be passionate about something that they aren't sure of?

Should they run away right now?

"Anjuu-chan! Let's just run and seek for help!" Hanayo said.

"Eh..?" Anjuu wondered

"Let's just run away!" Hanayo restated.

Right after she said it, very dark clouds surrounded the area. Then a voice was heard from nowhere.

 _Running away is a crime. No one shall disobey this or the judge of darkness will send you to the depths with guilt and remorse._

"It's getting scarier! Anjuu-chan! Please!" Hanayo begged. The clouds are getting closer and closer to them.

"Hanayo-chan! Be strong! I am your strength! Believe in me!" Mary the Lilymon said.

Anjuu took out her gold cards, though for some reason, both her digivice and her card engines turned off.

"D-damn it, is it the batteries?! I swear I charged them before this!" Anjuu complained.

Both of the royal knights they fought disappeared without a trace. The clouds are getting much closer until it swallowed them.

When the clouds are gone, all that was left in the room were the mess and digivices.

* * *

The Empty Building;

Maki and Rin along, with Polymnia and Leon searched in the darkness of the building with only the flashlight from their digivice as a source of light.

"Heidi-saaan!" Rin shouted.

"I guess she won't answer you at all, huh?" Maki said.

"Hnng… maybe Heidi-san is scared of us-nya?" Rin said.

"I don't doubt that. We _are_ after her."

"Aah! Maybe it's because Maki-chan is trying to hit her!"

"Even though that's true, I feel like she wouldn't hide like a coward. The person we are facing is a clever woman so there's no way she will allow herself to get cornered." Maki said.

"Is that really what's going to happen-nya?" Rin asked.

"I don't know, it's all just my speculation. She might be somewhere around here waiting to ambush us." Maki replied.

"Oooh! You are right-nya! She is really good at acting!"

"Heh, I would admit that, but in the same time, I'm curious about what exactly she is planning to do. No one was able to prove that she is planning to do something bad with the absolute destroyer, but the truth about how she sacrificed a lot of things in her pursuit of it remains. There's also the fact that she manipulated Nozomi and Eli to do her bidding. But if you look at it in another perspective, she helped us return to the real world before we died from starvation. We can't oversee that part." Maki said.

"Hnng… you are right-nya. I wonder if we can brand her as the villain if she also helped us out a lot. It isn't fair for her." Rin said sadly.

As soon as she said it, the figure that they were pursuing showed up once again. This time, she was climbing up to the next floor.

"Ah! That must be her!" Maki said before she, aking with Polymnia, began to chase her.

"Aa! Maki-chan! Wait for me-nya!" Rin quickly caught up to her.

By the time they reached the next floor, they spotted an injured woman coughing in the corner. They can't see her clearly, but they are quite sure that this is the woman they are looking for.

"Heidi-san?" Rin called her.

"Is that even Heidr-san?" Maki said.

"Be careful, I sense that something is wrong!" Polymnia said.

"This is not an ordinary human." Leon said.

The woman kept on coughing and it also sounded like she is dying.

"Hey, Heidi-san, if that's really you, please come with us and admit your mistakes. You just did something bad to them… to Eli-chan and Nozomi-chan."

"I didn't do anything bad to them." the woman replied.

Maki and Rin frowned while both of their Digimon got on their fighting stance.

"I told you, they were the ones who did it. All I did was teach a skill that every merchant needs. Blaming me is like blaming a gun that can't shoot on its own." The woman replied again as she began to stand up and approach them.

She's still some distance away and it was too dark to recognize her facial features. Alas, they aren't brave enough to direct their flashlights to her face when they can see some dark stains flowing down through her neck. Did she break her head when she landed?

Are those bloodstains or just dark stains out of nowhere? Rin may not be interested enough to know the truth, but Maki is very conflicted about it. She is extremely curious if it is ok for her to look at her condition is, but, will that be ok for her heart?

"What's wrong? Maki-chan? Don't you desire to know how my face looks like right now?" the woman asked.

Maki's hands began to tremble.

"And you, Rin-chan, don't you wish to bring me to justice?"

Rin began to feel a cold breath all over her shoulder.

"Rin, don't be scared! Let's take her to apologize and fix everything in this world!" Leon said.

"Maki! Just direct your light to her face, it will be fine! All you need to do is to move your hand a bit!" Polymnia said.

"I—I know!" Maki moved her light, yet it was only to the side to see purple hair stained with shade of dark red.

"Oh, this is looking good. You are almost there, Maki-chan. Just move a little bit up and you will see how I look like right now!" the woman said again.

Once again, Maki tried to move her light, yet instead of going up, it goes a little lower and she saw a larger blood stain on her chest pieces.

The woman laughed.

"You can't even get close. Now I feel like you are pretty hopeless… but, what about you, Rin-chan? Still want to bring me to justice? Why don't you command your Leon to catch me now? I'm harmless, I'm damaged, and I'm nothing but an ordinary woman."

"Ordinary woman my ass! You are not an ordinary woman-nya!" Rin said nervously.

"Ahh… the hostility, how it feels so comforting to me."

"G…gh… you mean, hospitality?" Maki asked.

"Hmm? It sounds the same to me. Hostility, Hospitality, both are rejuvenating for me."

"W-what are you exactly. Why are you so—….!" Maki paused.

"So… So what?" the woman tried to press her to continue.

"Never mind!" Maki yelled.

"Hmm… Running away? What a pity. I thought you'll be the first to reach the finish line."

"Huh?"

Suddenly, a fast shadow appeared and snatched away Maki and Polymnia. Her Digivice fell to the floor.

"M-Maki-chan!" Rin shouted.

 _Running away is a crime. No one shall disobey this or the judge of darkness will send you to the depths with guilt and remorse._

"K-Kyaaaa! S-Someone please—…!" and before Rin is able to finish her words, the shadow snatched her and Leon, as well. Her digivice fell to the ground still with the flashlight lit.

The room was left empty—without a trace of anyone having been there, except for Rin and Maki's digivice.

* * *

Not so far from the empty building;

A huge, four-winged, dark red dragon with a lance on his hand stood proudly as he glared down at his weak foes.

"This Examon… is not our opponent…" Erena said. She swears that she tried so hard but still couldn't even deal damage to it.

"Even though I've bugged Suzaku, our upgraded skills do nothing to it." Kotori said.

"His scales are too tough, I can't hurt it." Yamato said.

"We can't fight this digimon. We need to run." Erena said.

"He is data, yet my virus digimon still can't hurt him. What exactly do we need?" Umi said bitterly.

"Stop thinking so hard! Let's run!" Erena yelled.

"I can't! I'm going to fight till the end, that's how I work." Umi said.

Yamato quickly made another move when he heard his tamer's words. He jumped up and was about to punch the dragon's head, yet Examon bashed him away towards the building to the side.

"Fighting an impossible fight is useless! That won't protect your dignity so let's run!" Erena said.

"I said I'm going to fight till the end! This is my way and I'm not going to run!" Umi said.

"Umi Sonoda!" Erena shouted in rage. Tatsuya tried his best to protect Yamato who is still forcing himself to fight.

"There must be a way to win this, right? There must be!" Umi said.

The two continued to argue as Kotori began to feel more and more flustered, unable to decide which of her companions to side with. She knows that Umi is just being herself—always focused on one path—while Erena has a logical point. She couldn't understand what was going on and she can't even say anything about it.

She doesn't want to hurt Umi, but she also doesn't want to hurt Erena. What should she do now?

"Kotori-chan! Kotori-chan! Decide something! You are the only one who can stop them from fighting!" Suzaku said. She appears to already be exhausted from battle.

Kotori really couldn't decide and she needs someone else to decide for her… someone who may be able to give her a second opinion.

"Then, Suzaku, what do you think we should do?" Kotori asked.

Suzaku remained silent. It seems that she was disappointed when she heard that question.

"Kotori-chan…." she said sadly.

"You are not trying to run away from making a decision, right?"

"I'm just—….!" Before Kotori was able to finish her words, dark clouds began to surround them.

"Kotori-chan…." Suzaku once again called her.

"What should we do now?" she asked with a voice full of disappointment as they disappeared with the dark cloud.

As soon as the sound of a digivice hitting the floor was heard, Umi and Erena finally stopped to take a good look at what exactly caused that sound.

"Kotori…" Both of them said with despair drawn on their face.

"No… This is entirely my fault…" Umi said.

Erena remained silent. Her face displayed the hopeless in her heart. When she took a step back, she suddenly sank into her own shadow. Umi quickly grabbed her and held her up.

"Erena!" she shouted.

"Erena!" Tatsuya quickly changed his focus and, at the same time, Yamato was pierced with the lance of Examon.

"Yamato!" Tatsuya shouted.

"Let me go…" Erena said softly.

"But, Erena!" Umi shouted.

"I failed to protect someone…I don't want to fail in protecting you too." Erena said sadly.

Umi's eyes began to change as well before she finally released Erena to sink in her own shadow and disappear. All that was left of her is her digivice.

"Sorry… you are right… I should've listened to you. This… is not proof of my dignity." Umi said before she also sank down to the ground, leaving her digivice behind.

The area suddenly became empty—without even a trace of anyone having been there other than the mess left after the hard battle.

* * *

Far from where they are;

The final group of girls stood on a big, empty field with nothing but some leftovers of a construction. Sebastian was in his Rust Tyranomon form, Chibby in his Phantomon form, Ichigo in Metal Greymon, Lady and Angel in Lady Devimon and Angewomon, then Sakuya in Taomon.

"I wonder why we are not in an enclosed area… I mean, we are hiding, right? Why are we here?" Niko asked.

"Actually, we are not hiding. We are just taking our time to prepare. I assume that Heidr-san will need to get her ass to the infant core first, then, she may need the real power source so we need to stay as far away as possible so that it will take her a long time to get here." Tsubasa said.

"I guess you have a point. But still, why are we not hiding?"

"Because I get the feeling that she will still know where we are. Hiding is useless and staying in a cramped area will be our disadvantage." Tsubasa said.

"You're pretty tactical. As expected from the leader of A-Rise." Niko appreciated.

"I am very tactical. I have my own way of being smart, you know." Tsubasa replied proudly.

"By the way, Honoka, are you done day dreaming?" Niko asked.

Honoka remained silent. She seems to be somewhat scared as she watched Eli and Nozomi who stood far away from them. The couple has been very quiet. They were looking at each other, yet it seemed like their hearts are not yet connected to each other, unlike before.

"Honoka…" Tsubasa called her gently as she placed her hand on her shoulder.

"W-whoa! Ts-Tsubasa-chan!" Honoka jumped in surprise.

"Are you ok? You seemed to be worrying about something." Tsubasa asked.

"Hnng…." Honoka shook her head.

"No, I don't think it's worrisome. I feel like I'm not worrying about how they will deal with it. I mean, I believe they will be reunited again, but…" she pauses.

"I'm just, scared…. If I was about to be in a relationship with you… will I be able to get over this kind of thing?" she continued.

Tsubasa took a moment to think of her answer.

"Honoka, it will be fine. We haven't tried so it may never happen to us." Tsubasa said.

"But, what if it does? I mean—…!" Honoka swiftly turned to look at Tsubasa and took a deep breath.

"What if I screw up? I always do that in everything I do! That's why I never thought I would be capable of being in a relationship! Also! That's also the reason why I keep holding off on answering your question! I really appreciate our friendship, Tsubasa-chan! But I don't want to ruin it. I don't want to lose you…" the ginger girl said as she held back her tears.

"I can't say that I've tried my best, but I just know that it will happen. I just know that I will not be able to be committed to something. I just know that I will mess up and I just know that I will never be able to make you proud. I'm going to be an obstacle to you, I'm going to be a burden for you, and I'm going to be—….!" Before Honoka able to finish,

"Hey-hey-hey! Stop it right there!" Niko butt in.

Honoka went silent.

"Whatever the heck you just said, it doesn't make any sense and is unimportant, right Tsubasa?" Niko asked.

"Well, what she says is always important to me so no comment." Tsubasa replied with a giggle.

"Huh? That's so wrong, you know. You see someone being all emotional and you just say 'no comment?'" Niko raised an eyebrow.

"Then, what do you think? Niko-Niko-love senpai?" Tsubasa said playfully.

"The way I see things, huh? Then hear me out." Niko said as she adjusted Honoka and Tsubasa to stand before each other.

"Look over there, Honoka." Niko pointed to Tsubasa's face.

"Do you see that face? That face shouts: I LOVE YOU DAMN IT. Then you see here…!" Niko tried to search for something in her bag.

"Ok, here!" she pulled out a mirror.

"Look! This is the face of a loser who can't even set herself straight. Not like you are actually straight. You are gaaaaaayyyy! So gay for someone who screams 'I love you' right to your face." The little senior continued.

"Why are you two not dating yet? It's because one of you is having trouble with being honest with herself. It's really not like you to not do something out of the blue. You should've been, you know, if Tsubasa asked you out, you go out with her without knowing the reason why. If Tsubasa asked you to be her girlfriend, you be her girlfriend!"

"But, it's not like I'm forcing her into it. I really want her to be honest with herself, like usual." Tsubasa said.

"You hear that, huh? Say something." Niko said.

"Tsubasa-chan… I… I like you too, but, I just… I don't know. I don't think I have the strength to handle the future. Like I said, I don't want to lose you or to be so… clingy… I always have difficulty managing my time and I feel like, if I go out with you, I might be—…!"

"You are just making up excuses." Niko butt in again.

Tsubasa remained silent but she kept her smile as she listened to Honoka. It's like even though Honoka was saying something she should consider, Tsubasa still finds it amusing. The Senior and junior kept arguing for a while until finally…

"Aaarghh! Sheeshh! I know! I know now! You must be scared because that couple who looks so close with each other suddenly turned their love story into an angsty one?" Niko said.

"Ehh… yes… I mean, I don't know how it will be resolved…" Honoka said.

"See? Then, let me shove this solution to your face!" Niko angrily approached the silent couple.

"Oi! Eli! Nozomi! Say something already!" she yelled.

Eli and Nozomi still remained silent.

"Oh Come on! You both are the senior in love! Don't you want to shove your lovey dovey act to our faces as usual?" Niko complained.

And they are still silent.

"Looks like it really _is_ serious. I can't deny, though, when I lost my Malo-Myotismon, I was so broken. But that time, there was no one to blame because everything that happened were caused by our own mistakes. In this case, though, someone we trusted most took away something very important to us. It's hard to believe it but it is what it is. I'm curious about how they will resolve this." Tsubasa said.

"I believe this will be hard for Eli-chan…" Honoka said sadly.

"Who said that this is hard? I never said that this is hard so solve." Eli finally spoke up.

Tsubasa, Niko, and Honoka went silent.

"The rule is clear. I suppose she did not forget about how apologies work between us." Eli continued.

"I can't." Nozomi replied.

"Then don't expect me to forgive you." Eli replied.

"That's my intention." Nozomi replied.

Eli was surprised to hear it.

"Nozomi…?"

"I hate it. I hate it when you always forgive me so easily. You always let everything slide for me. I don't want that. I want you to be a lot more selfish. I want you to be angry at me, just like how you always did back before we started dating each other." Nozomi continued.

"Don't be ridiculous. You just have to explain to me why you did all that. It is easier than letting this matter go on forever." Eli replied.

"It was because you love her more than me, right? It's because you found yourself enjoying her company more than mine. I was jealous, I was angry, and I was too proud to speak up what's in my mind!" Nozomi suddenly snapped at her.

"For a year, I tried so hard to open the door to your heart. I really tried so hard and it was really painful to endure all those cold words you said to me. Yet that one Digimon… the one you called Kuzunoha, took more of your time from me so easily. You were always so excited and worked up for her. I'm really jealous. My lust for you had to wait because of her existence." The purplenette began to summon her dark aura. While her Digimon, Lady, appears to be strengthened by it, Angel, who always look cheerful, suddenly became gloomy.

"H-hey now, Nozomi! If it was really that painful for you to explain, you didn't have to say it!" Niko commented as she walked backwards. Tsubasa and Honoka prepared to fight."

"That's why I kept looking for a way to take your attention back, and the only way was to remove that one Digimon. But I regret it… or perhaps I don't really regret it. I had all of your attention back, but what's much more interesting is that you began to depend on me when training your Digimon. I was happy whenever you called me to do anything related to you and your Digimon." Nozomi continued as dark clouds began to appear around them.

"Tsubasa! This is not right. We need to stop them." Sebastian said.

"Hah, I wouldn't say that, you know. At least we will see something interesting here!" Tsubasa said.

"Eli-chan! Nozomi-chan!" Honoka called them, hoping that it will stop the purplenette from releasing all of her anger.

"Eli, do something!" Sakuya said as she quickly ran in front of Eli to protect her.

"It's fine, Sakuya. Let her show everything she wants to show me." Eli said.

"But at this rate, you'll be hurt!" Sakuya said.

"I don't care. All I want is to see her emotions, even if she would kill me for that." Eli said.

"I can't let that happen!" Sakuya said.

"That's right, Sakuya. Just when I thought that you won't be an obstacle, it appears that Ericchi started to bond with you like how she and Kuzunoha were bonded. But now I see it, I see that I shouldn't let anyone else come between us anymore."

Right after Nozomi said it, the dark clouds began to close in.

"Eli! Do something!" Sakuya shouted.

"Maaaannn! Eli! Get your ass moving! Do something damn it! It's getting scary!" Niko yelled as she watched how the dark clouds started to cover the couple and their Digimon from their line of sight.

"Tsubasa-chan! Should we do something?" Honoka asked.

"Nah, we can't do anything… but we can watch." Tsubasa said.

"Tsubasa, I don't think this is going to progress as you thought." Sebastian said.

"Huh? Really? What else can happen? Nozomi is angry, yes? Good chance for me to fight against her Lilithmon. I have always been so curious about it!" Tsubasa said.

"Is she really going to evolve to that?" Honoka asked.

"I'm very sure of it!" Tsubasa said.

However, when the dark clouds disappeared, only the couple's Digivice remained where they stood earlier.

"E-Eeeehhhh?!" Their eyes widened in surprise.

"So… where's your foe now, huh? I can't see anything…" Niko smirked.

Suddenly, a heavy gust of wind passed through, almost as if something really big just passed through them. Then the earth began to tremble and all of the land—except the area where they stood—collapsed. The vision in the sky scattered and. right behind it, a new dimension appeared.

"Wh-whoa, the sky is..!" Honoka paused. She feels like she has visited a similar area.

"Impossible! How could the real world turn into this?!" Tsubasa said.

The scattered pixels gathered and formed a huge, dark, tornado-like cloud. It eventually formed into a tower with one huge, transparent shell attached at its peak.

As the dark clouds faded, they managed to see what exactly hid behind it: a transparent incubator connected to several transparent pod-like objects. They can see all of their friends inside the pods, except for Eli who appears to be inside the incubator. Cables were attached all over her body and every inch of her skin shone, as if she will eventually break down into data and merge into the creature behind her.

"This is the most disturbing thing I've ever seen…" Niko said.

"This reminds me of one of the games I played… the one with a Dragon's teeth and Husk." Chibby said.

"Oh shut it, Chibby! Don't remind me of that!" Niko complained.

"What the hell is that, though?" Tsubasa asked.

"H-Huh? Well, to put it simply… the enemy converts one living creature into another that is controllable. Then all those will merge into one creature in order to create a super creature. It's nightmarish." Niko said.

"Ok, I don't want to hear that. Just get your ass ready and let's try to stop their process!" Tsubasa said.

"Yes, let's save everyone!" Honoka said.

Sebastian and Ichigo quickly took their fighting stance, but as they were about to charge forward, another dark cloud appeared and formed into a woman.

It is the woman they are supposed to be running away from.

"Overruled. None of you are allowed to do such a thing." She said.

"H-Heidi-san!" Honoka and Tsubasa quickly moved far away from her while Niko just stopped before she can get any closer.

"Hah, so you are finally here, huh?" Tsubasa said mockingly.

"I've been here. Everywhere you are, I am there. Welcome to the shadow dimension, a dimension created above the surface yet stayed as dark as night." Heidr said calmly.

"Are we done talking now? I'm eager to crush you." Tsubasa said.

"Hmmph, none of you are smart enough to realize that you were led astray. Have you all truly done anything according to _your_ plan?" Heidr asked with her mysterious smile.

"No, the situation keeps changing so we can't stick to our plans." Honoka replied.

"Hmm… just like searching for the truth in the darkness, right?" Heidr said.

"Or more like, because our enemy knows our path, she intended to play around and get us worked up over a lot of things." Tsubasa said.

"Ahh… I wonder what kind of enemy you are facing. Why is that enemy so annoying?" Heidr said.

Right after she said it, Tsubasa signaled Sebastian to take a shot at her. The huge canon blasted where she stood yet, as the mess from the impact disappeared, there's no trace of the very woman he blasted.

"Being aggressive, I see. Full offense is a good tactic against a defender, but it wouldn't do much against a tactician." Heidr said out of nowhere.

"Show your face. I've had enough of your chatter!" Tsubasa said aggressively.

"Heidr-san! Please, what exactly you are trying to achieve, why did you take all of our friends?" Honoka asked.

"Hmm? I did not take anyone. They are the ones who submitted to the darkness inside them." Heidr replied calmly.

"And here you are still refusing to take the blame." Niko said.

"I have no control of everyone's emotions, put aside controlling their actions. They are the ones who decided to give up. They are the ones who decided to run away… and you all know that the darkness is merciless." Heidr replied.

"Hah, let me describe your logic. You have control over darkness and the darkness controls their desires. In other words, you are not the one who controls them but the darkness?" Tsubasa said.

When Heidr heard it, she began to giggle then nodded as if she was satisfied to hear it.

"How smart! Finally someone could push me into a corner through wit." She said.

"I expected that from you, but really, we are talking too much. If you want to fight, then, let's fight." Tsubasa said.

"But, I wasn't looking for a fight. I'm just here to stand in front of you." Heidr replied as she suddenly appeared.

Sebastian attacked. Tsubasa didn't complain, though, since she was thinking the same things as her Digimon.

"Gh… again, she is able to dodge it!" Niko said.

"Well, I don't want to fight at all." Heidr once again appeared, but she stood on Sebastian's head this time.

"Get off him!" Tsubasa shouted angrily while Sebastian tried to catch the woman on his head. She, once again, disappeared by the time he almost caught her.

"Oh my-my, you are really persistent. But since I really hate fighting, what if you fight with one of the Royal Knights instead?" Heidr said as she re-appeared behind Honoka and placed both of her hands on her shoulders.

"W-Whoa! Heidi-san! Don't Surprise me like that!" Honoka quickly moved away, but when she turned around, she didn't see anyone.

"Just—Stop annoying me and let's fight!" Tsubasa said clearly before she noticed a huge Digimon standing a little farther from them. She knows well what Digimon she is facing right now.

A Black Digimon carrying a blade on his left hand and a canon on his right stood facing them. She remembers well about the black cape fluttering behind his strong, majestic posture and the red eyes shining through the eye gap on his helm.

"Omnimon… Zwart…" Tsubasa said his name softly. Her brave expression began to change. Even though she has moved on, she still remembers how this Digimon beats her. He was even so close to make her lose her Digi-egg, and she just know that she will probably lose again considering she was already fighting with her friends back then, yet no one was able to take down this Digimon from the depths of Digital world.

"I know what you are thinking. You're wondering if you should really challenge me, huh?" Heidr said. Everyone looked in the direction her voice came from and they can see her standing right on Omnimon Zwart's left shoulder.

Tsubasa remained silent as she began to doubt if she really should challenge this woman.

"What's with that silence? Go for it!" Niko said.

"Tsubasa-chan!" Honoka called her.

The short brunette still remained silent. She appears to be somewhat scared to make a decision.

"Tsubasa-chan!" Honoka once again called her, but this time, she held her hand.

"H-Honoka…" Tsubasa replied in surprise.

"I know we might not win, but let's just go for it. Let's try to gain our victory!" Honoka said.

Hearing such sincere words, Tsubasa smiled at her.

"Honoka, you are truly my power. Stay like that forever, ok?" she said.

"Mmh! I will fight with you!" Honoka replied.

When she said it, Ichigo suddenly shone bright.

"H-Honoka!" Ichigo called her.

"Uwoo! Ichigo!" Honoka called him back.

Then a powerful light covered him before his digital particles began to transform. He began to look much smaller than his previous form, yet his body was covered in glorious gold armor, a pair of powerful claws and a crest of courage right on his shield-like wing.

"H-He is evolved!" Honoka's eyes widened in surprise.

"War Greymon, this is getting interesting." Tsubasa said confidently.

"Indeed." Heidr said as she showed her most mysterious smile before disappearing into the shadows.

"Chibby, we are in this too. Let's do our best!" Niko said.

Chibby nodded, though for some reason, he looked a little down.

The first strike came from Sebastian who shot his beam toward Omnimon Zwart, though the black holy knight swatted his attack easily. When the black canon was aimed towards Sebastian, Ichigo threw a giant energy ball at him and canceled his shot. It appears to be doing very little damage, but they are sure that it will eventually be decent enough after a few similar attacks.

Once again, Sebastian made another offense move when Omnimon Zwart tried to attack Ichigo with his sword. Despite being at a type disadvantage, Sebastian's power made quite a damage on Omnimon Zwart.

"Ghh… for some reason, you look like you have more impact than Ichigo's attack." Honoka said.

"It's because I was had the right timing and position. If you do the same, the damage you deal will be much more fatal than mine." Tsubasa said.

"Really?"

"Yep, you are my power, after all. We will do our best!" Tsubasa said.

"Ok!" Honoka replied with her biggest smile.

For another turn, Ichigo and Sebastian attacked but while they pursued their endless attempts, a small Digimon was still trying to figure out if he should attack or not.

"What are you waiting for, Chibby? Attack him!" Niko encouraged him.

Chibby nodded again and he nervously flew up high in the air, raised his scythe but, just right before he could swing it, he was thrown away by the impact from Sebastian's shot.

He fell down to the ground so easily, yet he didn't giving up. He flew up again and, this time, aimed for the lower area. Before he could reach Omnimon Zwart's leg; however, he got kicked away.

Chibby continued his attempts to attack until Niko finally called him back after more epic failures.

"That's enough, Chibby! Come back here!" she said.

Chibby nodded and sadly returned to his tamer.

"Sorry, I'm useless…" he said.

"Psh, it's not like this is where you shine. Not like beauty contests will do any good, but hey, let's try something else." Niko said.

"Like what?" Chibby asked.

The two tried to think for a bit while Ichigo, Sebastian and their tamers continued to fight against Omnimon Zwart.

An idea appeared within seconds as they remembered that there's still one thing that they forgot about. The tower that contains their friends need to be investigated before it's too late.

"Chibby, fly me to that tower! You can do that, right?" Niko asked.

"Yes, I can!" Chibby nodded.

"Alright then. Let's go!" Niko said before she jumped on Chibby's shoulder and flew to their destination.

Niko and Chibby swiftly flew towards the tower.

Even though they began to feel like they're being watched, she just knew that she really has to do this somehow.

When she was close enough, she approaches the pod with a specific red-haired girl inside it.

"Oi! Maki! Can you hear me?!" she yelled. She can see the red haired girl's was equipped with futuristic goggles.

"Who's that? Who are you? Why are you here? I want to know!" the red-haired girl inside the pod replied.

"It's me, Niko! I'm here to save you!" Niko replied.

"Save me? Why? Why are you saving me?"

"Because you are such a moron! Get yourself out of that already!" Niko yelled again.

"H-Huh?! I'm a moron?! How could you say that?!"

"Because you really are a moron so stop asking and get out already so you can see the reason better!"

"Will I…? Will I be able to know more if I get out of this place? Will it be ok for me to know more?"

"Of course! You can't know if you do not experience it yourself! Humans learn everyday so why should you limit yourself!?" Niko replied again.

"Then…" the red-haired girl's goggles disappeared. The cables all over her body disconnected and the pod shattered and its particles turned into a familiar Digimon.

"I want to know, please guide me." Maki continued as she carefully landed on the arm of the formed Digimon. The place became silent for a few second as Maki started to gain consciousness. She noticed that she is sitting in the arms of her Dianamon, Polymnia. She also realized that she is holding her digivice.

Now that she realized she just said something very embarrassing to the person she never wanted to show her weakness to…

"Aaaaaaaaaa! Niko!" She yelled loudly with blazing red face.

"W-what the heck? Why are you yelling at me!?"

"Youuuuuuu!" Maki tried to hit her, but Chibby quickly dodged for Niko.

"C-Calm down, you moron. We need to help the others now!"

"The others…?" Maki was flustered, though, when she was directed to look at the pods around them..

"Wh-what the hell?!" she said.

"Polymnia!" she continued as she pointed towards two of her friends.

"Rin! Hanayo!" she shouted.

The two girls raised their heads, though their eyes were still covered with the goggles.

"What are you two doing, wake up!" Maki yelled.

The two remain silent.

"I think you need to approach them one by one, Maki. You do that and I'll try to get the others!"

"N-Niko! Wait!" Maki said.

"Huh?" Niko turned around,

"Please, I want to know how you did it." Maki said.

Niko sighed softly, though she is glad that Maki would bother asking to her.

"Then, take a look at how I do it." She said as she floated to Rin first.

"Oi, Rin, wake up." Niko said.

"…nya….." she said softly.

"W-what the heck? Are you sleeping?!" Niko complained.

"No-nya…. I'm just wondering… is it fair if I do that-nya?"

"What? What is 'that' in your question?!"

"About taking action against someone who has been kind to us-nya." Rin said.

"The heck? That's not even your place to say something like that! No matter how long she has been kind, to justify an action that causes other to suffer is horrible! Also, she doesn't even want to admit her mistakes so why would you feel pity towards a person like that?!" Niko said.

"But, is it the same for the opposite? Can we say that someone is kind even though they have been bad-nya?" Rin asked.

"J-just! Stop thinking that way already! Come out and I'll tell you more about it!" Niko said.

"Will you really?" Rin asked.

"Yes! Of course! I'll smack your face with a law book if you want to." Niko said.

"Niko-chan…" Rin giggled before her pod scattered and turned into a caped Leomon wearing a hat and equipped with a long, sheathed blade on his belt. He landed first and caught Rin before gently letting her sit in his huge, strong arms.

"Leon…" Rin blinked after she regained consciousness.

"You changed." She continued.

"Banchou Leomon at your service! We will bring justice to all!" he said with a salute.

"Hehe! Leon! You are such a weirdo!"

"Rin!" Maki and her Dianamon landed nearby while Niko decided to busy herself with the other pods.

"Maki-chan!" Rin greeted her back.

"What was your dream?" Maki asked.

"Eh? Well, nothing much, really. I was just… walking around a dark place with voices echoing everywhere. It was pretty frustrating and I was so close to losing all hope until I heard Niko-chan's voice-nya."

"Me too, I had the similar dream. Could it be happening to everyone as well?" Maki asked.

Before Rin could answer, Hanayo landed with a fabulous Digimon Equipped with a rose-like helm, a thorn whip, and a slim sharp stick stowed. The digimon carried her tamer and placed her down gently.

"Hanayo-chan, are you alright?" the rose-like Digimon asked.

"Mary..." Hanayo tried to confirm.

"Yes, it's me, Hanayo-chan. You are fine now. I'll help you out with anything you need!" She said.

"Kayo-chin!" Rin jumped off Leon's arm.

"Rin-chan!" Hanayo replied delightedly.

"Kayo-chin! Are you ok-nya?!" Rin asked, full of concern.

"I'm fine. I was just a little scared since I saw nothing and it was pitch black until Niko-chan called me out and convinced me to get out. She gave me a solution to my doubt then I suddenly saw Mary evolving, probably because of my resolution to leave the darkness." Hanayo said.

"The same goes for us too. Thanks to her." Maki said.

"Yeah-nya. Niko-chan is truly our hero now!" Rin said.

Then suddenly, they can see a familiar long dragon-like and flower-like digimon appearing.

"Erena! Tatsuya!" Maki greeted them.

"Anjuu-chan… Neisha-chan…" Hanayo greeted them with a nervous gaze.

"That was…. a long nightmare. Thank goodness it's over." Erena sighed.

"Ah, Hanayo-chan! I'm really glad you are ok!" Anjuu said.

"Anjuu-chan! I'm sorry! I was—…!"

"Ssshh… It's fine. But look now, your digimon evolved. Rosemon isn't it? I'm sure she is ready to fight now!" Anjuu said with her sweet smile.

"Yes, she is!" Hanayo said cheerfully.

"I'm glad. It's just like what Niko-chan told me." Anjuu said.

"Anjuu, don't tell me, your doubt was about being unable to fulfill your responsibility?" Erena said.

"Hmm…and yours must be because you couldn't protect someone." Anjuu said.

"Hah, we know each other too well, huh?" Erena said.

"We surely do." Anjuu giggled in response.

As soon as they finished their banter, a shadow of a giant bird passed. Everyone looked up to the sky and saw a golden bird flying until it eventually lowered down to land.

"That must be…" Maki squinted.

"Suzaku-chan and Kotori-chan." Anjuu said.

Upon her landing, everyone heard Kotori's excited scream.

"Aaaaah! I finally have a Phoenixmon! Niko-chan is right! I should not have been afraid to choose! Life is a gamble and I've always found myself excited with new ideas so why bother thinking about my decision? Life always drag me to everywhere and I always somehow choose my path!" she said.

"K-Kotori-chan, you look very happy." Hanayo said. She realized that maybe her senior didn't learn anything at all, but at least she changed her way of thinking which somewhat work to solve her problem.

"Of course I do! I have always dreamt of having a Phoenixmon, but it seemed so difficult when I was alone back then!" Kotori replied.

Just before another commented about her Phoenixmon, a majestic, black, metallic digimon appeared. Instead of standing with four legs like it used to, he stood on two legs. He was equipped with a pair of canons on his back, one canon on his left hand, and a claw with a small beam attached the wrist of his other hand.

Most importantly, a familiar figure sat on his shoulder.

"U-Umi! D-Don't tell me?!" Erena smirked in surprise.

"Black Metal Garurumon X!?" Anjuu's eyes widened.

"W-where the hell did you get that X Antibody from?!" Erena yelled.

"I-I'm sorry, I don't understand. I just woke up and I can't quite catch up." Umi said.

"Umi-chan… how could you have an X-Antibody on your Digimon?" Kotori asked.

"Put that aside! I have seen Metal Garurumon-X, but never seen a _Black_ Metal Garurumon-X in any historical record! There's only the normal one and—…!" Erena sighed heavily.

"How could you do that….?" She sighed once again.

"Now-now, it's not like Black WarGreymon X never existed. They exist so it's not impossible for Black Metal Garurumon to have an X-Antibody." Anjuu said.

"But still, my question is where did you get an X-Antibody from?" Kotori asked once again.

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I know nothing about that." Umi said.

"I don't know about my evolution either." Yamato said.

Suddenly, all heard a piercing scream and Niko and her Phantomon flew down and quickly hid behind Yamato.

"G-God damn it! I failed to convince Nozomi!" she said.

"Huh?" Everyone turn their attention to the tower. They can see there's only one pod left with the shell where Eli it is kept.

"Wh-what the heck did you say to her?" Maki asked.

"I just told her to give up and accept the forgiveness Eli gave her. I mean, I bet that blonde will forgive her anyway! That's how it has always been!" Niko said.

"But she denied it?" Anjuu asked.

"Yeah. She said she doesn't deserve that much love then she started to get really angry."

"What a stubborn couple." Erena said as she witnessed how the pod broke while emitting a dark aura around itself.

Eventually, the pod turned into a big Digimon instead of two, like how they expected it to. A very angry turquoise armored, female-like Digimon with two pairs of gold devil wings, a flaming scythe on her hand appeared.

"Why can't she blame me? Why can't she hate me? I have no right to be loved that much. I have committed a sin that can't be forgiven. I have done something really bad and I shall be punished." a familiar voice is heard from inside the Digimon.

"Ophanimon Falldown mode…" Kotori said as she scanned the Digimon.

"Everyone, this is getting sour." Erena got on her fighting stance.

"Should we really fight her?" Hanayo asked.

"We need to somehow calm her down, let's try to just suppress her power, ok?" Anjuu said.

The fight started with Ophanimon FM bashing her fiery scythe on the crowd before her but each of the Digimon quickly picked up their tamer and dodged. Tatsuya made the first counter strike with his blade, yet it was parried and he got pushed back before a swarm of missiles from Yamato blasted toward Ophanimon FM.

Then it continued with Mary appearing and lashing her whip at Ophanimon FM, inflicting a severe poisonous damage on her. The next attack was made by Polymnia as she tried to stop Ophanimon FM from making another offensive attack, then it continued with Leon and Neisha unleashing their powerful attacks.

Despite not being able to make a single move, Ophanimon FM looked very persistent and remained aggressive. Everyone started to grow concerned as they watch their Digimon beating her up again and again.

"This is not looking good… it looks like Ophanimon FM has no plan on giving up." Anjuu said.

"At this rate, we might accidentally kill her." Erena said.

"There's something weird going on here. Nozomi-chan… has she really broken down into this emotional state before?" Kotori asked.

"Everyone has their own limits… perhaps this is hers?" Anjuu asked.

"To begin with, she was broken enough to kill someone's digimon. I believe that amount of emotion is enough to break her into this state." Erena said.

"But Ophanimon Fall Down mode… she is probably Angel's enraged form, right? If she is there, where's Lady?" Kotori asked.

At the same time Kotori asked the question, Ophanimon FM blasted a powerful burst of energy—a repelling energy that blocks all sort of incoming damage. She then soared up high in the sky and rained down some fiery shots, followed by a massive energy slashes that could cause the ground to break.

None of them were able to see where she might be so they decided to stay on guard until she is close enough to fight with.

"Niko-chan, do you have any idea how to stop her?" Hanayo asked Niko who was still trying to think of a way to stop her.

"And I wonder why it was her Angel that became angered?" Maki added to the question.

"Why, huh? I wonder too. I was expecting to fight with her Lilithmon. Also, I don't know how else we can stop her, but perhaps someone could." Niko said.

As she said it, the girls turn to look up towards the peak of the tower.

"But Eli-chan is pretty scary… I don't know if we can reach her somehow." Hanayo said.

Niko took a moment to think until she decided that perhaps, it is her job to do it. Even though she failed to convince Nozomi, she is very sure that maybe she will succeed in the next one. It's all because she wants to be useful She doesn't let her failure become an excuse from trying again.

Quickly, Niko flew up towards the tower. She had to dodge a few shots, but it's not a big deal for Chibby. He knows that this is the moment for him to show how much he can be useful, just like what Niko wants for him. He dashed and soared high towards the big shell.

"Niko-chan, this is where I'm being a hero, right? Everyone will see me as a decent Digimon, right? Then we will be popular, right?" Chibby asked.

"What the heck you are saying. It's nice to be acknowledged, but we shouldn't do this because of that sort of thing. We are useful because we want to help and make people smile, it doesn't matter how others will see it." Niko said.

"I see. Then, I'm happy to help and make people smile." Chibby said before he began to emit a powerful light. Soon, his body transformed into a slender, human-like figure.

"Oi-Oi, are you turning into Piedmon? That's no sur—…"

Instead of being the colorful clown-like Digimon, black and red color appeared on his clothes and ribbon.

"Wh-whoa?!" Niko's eyes widened.

"Black and red… just as fabulous as your hair and your eyes!" Chibby said.

"The heck? How could you turn into this anyway?"

"I don't know. But maybe it was meant to synchronize us as Tamer and Digimon?"

"I don't get it, but hey now, I won't say no either." Niko said before the two finally reached the peak of the tower and faced with the unconscious blonde. It seems that part of her body has been scrambled into nothing but transparent data while a creature behind her is in a familiar form.

"Eli! Eli!" Niko shouted at the stiff body inside the shell.

It doesn't look promising and maybe Eli can't be saved after all, but it won't stop her just yet.

"Oiii! Elii! Wake uppp!"

* * *

Back to where Honoka and Tsubasa are;

The Omnimon Zwart has been weakened enough. Sebastian and Ichigo remained very well-spirited even though Sebastian admits that he had quite a difficult time taking damage. Honoka's command has improved so much after she adjusted to Tsubasa's tactic.

Full offense is nothing like attacking without thinking; full offense is about to making as many attacks as possible with a very strategic timing and position. Tsubasa also practiced her Sebastian's counter attack, which is also an additional damaging method. Honoka still couldn't get the idea of that yet, but she is very sure that Ichigo will just do fine in this battle.

Omnimon Zwart began to show signs of tiredness while Sebastian and Ichigo were still at full power, thanks to their tamers.

By the time Sebastian and Ichigo were about to launch their next attack, a massive dark cloud surrounded Omnimon Zwart.

"W-what's going on now?" Honoka asked.

As the dark clouds faded, a huge purple dragon appeared, along with a woman standing on his head.

"Had enough fun yet?" the woman said.

"Heidi-san, you are back again! Please stop all this madness!" Honoka said.

"Madness? What madness? Everything looks right to me. You two fighting here and your friends over there fighting with the girl I raised." Heidr replied as she pointed towards the tower.

Tsubasa and Honoka quickly tried to take a good look at the tower. They both can see a big Ophanimon FM flying around while a few other Digimons attacked her. They don't quite understand what was happening, but…

"Well, they surely will get over it. I'm sure of it." Tsubasa said as she turned back to the woman on the dragon.

"Yes, we trust them and we will always trust them." Honoka said.

Heidr giggled and shook her head.

"How pathetic, to trust people who can't get over their own desire and have fallen into despair knowing they can't be fulfilled." She said.

"No one can live on their own, that's why they will have to work together, we should too but we know that there's someone we need to fight with right now." Tsubasa replied.

"Heidi-san, please, why do you have to sacrifice everyone just to awaken someone that will bring destruction? What benefit will you get from this?" Honoka asked.

"Sacrificing a thousand worthless souls to awaken one important soul is worth it." Heidr replied.

"But what about those who are related to the people among the thousands? Aren't you being too selfish?" Honoka asked.

"Me? Selfish? Not really. I care about how the people in this world feel, that's why I purged them all so that nobody can feel anything. For me, this world is a better place if nobody is telling me to give up on someone important to me. It's a payback time for those humans who demand others to sacrifice for their own ego."

"So you think people who think about humanity are wrong, huh?" Tsubasa clenched her fist furiously.

"Tell me, how many times have people told you to give up on your dreams just because they are bothered with it? How many times have people told you to not love what you love because they are bothered with it? How many times have people told you to stop doing what you desire just because they are bothered with it?" Heidr asked.

"Here is one big answer to all of your questions: WE-ARE-NOT-LIVING-ALONE." Tsubasa said.

"Yeah! I know what you are trying to tell us, but, no! It's not like they can stop us from pursuing something! If we truly want it, then we just do! We don't give a damn about what others think!" Honoka said.

"She's right. Make sure you got that right, crazy woman!" Tsubasa said.

"Crazy woman? Oh My. I wonder if my daughter will tell me the same thing. But enough chatter… I guess I'm getting a little bored. Let's end this story nicely, ok?" Heidr said.

"You are the one who will end your story! We will live on and continue!" Tsubasa said clearly.

"Heidi-san, if you want this to be a happy ending, please give up and turn all these mess back to normal!" Honoka said.

Heidr giggled at her request.

"Let's just see who will reach the end of story."

Then before Sebastian or Ichigo could make their first move, Lucy flew up to the sky and breathed a powerful beam towards them. The two Digimon quickly dodged and carried their tamers to place them at a safer location.

The purple dragon rampaged all over the area while Sebastian and Ichigo tried their best to make sure that both their tamers are fully secure. It was a hard aim for Sebastian since his attack is always nulled by the time Lucy uses the shadow orb to shield himself and then it was also a hard for Ichigo to catch up with him since he is a lot faster than he is. They tried over and over, yet none of their attempts were successful.

"What's wrong? Can't touch Lucy yet?" Heidr voice heard out of nowhere.

"How much longer you are going to dodge us?" Tsubasa asked angrily.

"To begin with, I have no intention of fighting you. If you surrender, then everything will be fine between us." Heidr replied.

"But we don't plan on surrendering! We love our world and we will not let people like you destroy it!"

"Why would you love your world? You said yourself back then that this world is boring and there's nothing much to do."

"I said it back then, but it doesn't mean I want to destroy this world!"

"Does it really? What if I tell you that if I could have this world, all you humans will be transported to the digital world, to the new domain that Eli created. Isn't that nice… to be able to live in a world where you won't feel pain and hunger." Heidr said.

"How could you call that 'nice' if life is as plain as a game?!" Honoka replied again.

"Besides, you took her away from us. How can we live in peace?" Tsubasa said.

"How ironic, you said that because she is already gone. When she was stil with you, all you said about her was she is being an asshole, right? All of you have no deep relations with her and the only person who cares about her is Nozomi."

"That's wrong! We don't care about others just because we have deep relations with them! We care because we do! It doesn't matter if anyone will take that the wrong way, I'm sure they will get it one day!" Honoka said.

"Have you really cared about others? All you do is chat with that person right there. You've been doing nothing but that." Heidr said as she diected her mocking smile toward Tsubasa.

"Th-that's true…" Honoka replied nervously.

"Let me testify: SHE-HAS-BEEN-OBSERVING-AND-REPORTING-HER ACTIVITIES-TO-ME." Tsubasa said.

"And what of it? What does it actually do? Nothing at all, right?" Heidr replied.

"It does something, you know. It enables me to understand the people around us. But hey now, before you become a witty ass again, I'll tell you something: Honoka might not be a good leader now because she is too easily distracted by events around her, but what everyone should see is the way she just deals with whatever she stumbles into, her spirit when it comes to dealing with everything around her. I bet none of us can beat that. She is my motivation to move and she is their motivation to move. She makes trouble? Doesn't matter, everyone will deal with it and she will too!"

"I still don't to see anything good about that… she is worthless." Heidr replied again.

"Let me guess, she is worthless because you can't make her fall to her despair? Or, perhaps, it's because she can't be manipulated? Admit it, Honoka has been doing nothing but her will and that's where she shines!" Tsubasa replied as she pointed a finger to Heidr.

"Tsu-Tsubasa-chan! I'm really touched that you said all that about me!" Honoka said.

"You're welcome, Honoka." Tsubasa replied proudly.

"Is that so? Then…" Heidr smiled before a very huge explosion is heard from all over the place. Everything around them scattered into nothingness and the world becomes dark. There were only a few strings of light and some junk data that may have come from everything that got destroyed.

But come to think of it, Honoka feels like she has been in this kind of place before.

"Let me tell you something about this place. This isn't where you meet my lover's image for the very first time." Heidr said.

"Huh? Wait… are you saying that…?" Honoka paused.

"Yes, the one you call as the absolute destroyer is just an image I created to cause this mess. It's bad for me if I use my own image. I can't infiltrate the officials if I do that." Heidr replied.

"W-wait wait, the one that I was wondering about is why your lover is a woman! I thought you had a husband!" Honoka said.

"Honoka, I have to disagree this time. The other detail is so much more important. It means that she is a singlehanded mastermind!" Tsubasa said.

"Of course, after all, humans have tried to murder my lover over and over. No one cares about her so I am here to avenge her." Heidr replied.

"All of this was because you were angry? Can't you even understand that they are just trying to protect themselves?" Tsubasa said.

"So you are saying its normal for those people to attack my lover blindly? You want me to understand that and yet you don't tell them to understand me? What a hypocrite."

"But destroying the innocents won't do any justice! You have turned everyone into a suspect and you punish them with an iron fist!" Tsubasa replied.

"Tsubasa-chan!" Honoka suddenly shouted.

Tsubasa turned to Honoka.

"Honoka, what's wrong?" Tsubasa asked gently. Honoka looked serious this time, but instead of making any offensive move, she bowed to Heidr.

"Heidi-san, I apologize on behalf of this world."

And right after she said it, everyone turned speechless. Even Lucy, Ichigo, and Sebastian stopped fighting to witness the very moment.

* * *

Back to where the tower stood;

Niko and Chibby kept on their task to awaken the blonde while the others kept fighting against Ophanimon FM. They have to say, this Ophanimon FM they are facing is truly relentless But, putting that aside, they still wish that she would stop so that they don't have to fight her again.

"Oi! Oi! Eli!" Niko decided to hit the shell, hoping that it will be heard.

"When will you stop being noisy?" said the creature behind Eli.

"Huh? I'm not talking to you!" Niko said.

"I told you, it's pointless. She is nothing but a fragment of data right now." the creature replied.

"I don't care! I'm going to try to wake her up over and over until she is awake!"

"What do you need? Why are you so persistent?" the creature asked.

"Someone important to her is crying inside! She needs to wake up and stop her from suffering." Niko said.

"What's your name?" the creature asked.

"Niko, Niko Yazawa." Niko replied.

"I'm Gullveig, the magician of light. I as—…"

"Cut-cut-cut! Who cares about who you are. Get the damn woman here to wake up! Nozomi needs her!"

"Yes, but—…"

"There is no but! I know you can kick my ass later, but for real, someone here is in need of help!"

"I see…then I—…"

"Ok! Good! Perfect, get the damn woman out. We are not going to waste our time anymore for bullshit!"

Gullveig rolled her eyes though, as requested of her, she unlocked the shell and let all the remaining fragments of Eli get dispersed into the sky to form a specific Digimon.

It was a Fox woman with silver hair, yellow helmet and armor, along with golden monk staff. Sakura petals scattered all over as she appeared and, just right after her form was completed, she dashed down to the ground with the lower tip of her staff touching the ground first. A beautiful magic circle appeared and light wind blew in a circle, creating the soothing atmosphere and sealing the time around them.

Those who were not inside were unaffected, though the only ones who weren't inside are the tamers.

"I-is that….?" Kotori pauses.

"Sakuya?" Umi asked.

Within a few seconds, the magic circle caused a massive explosion of light. It released the grip on its allies without any penalty but painfully blew up the evil spirit, Ophanimon FM.

The battle is over for them. Ophanimon FM is no more and on the ground were a young purplenette and a puppy like Digimon.

"Angel!" a familiar voice is heard from the distance, though all the girls are sure that it's not any of them.

A dark purple haired Digimon wearing a lovely traditional Japanese suit appeared. She has two pairs of black wings and one of her hands was covered with golden claws. She quickly ran to the puppy-like Digimon and hugged her close.

"Angel! Angel! Are you ok?" she asked, showing her most concerned expression.

"Could you be… Lady?" Hanayo asked as she approached them along with her Rosemon.

"Yes, I'm sorry. I was hiding all the time." she replied as she still hugging the puppy-like Digimon.

"I knew it will come to this. Angel is always so supportive of Nozomi and she would follow her anywhere, even if it's against her own will." Lady said.

"And, here you are, hiding?" Niko asked.

"I know, I'm such a coward. I just can't get the idea why she was so angry with herself. I bet Angel shared the same feeling with her." Lady replied.

"I guess sometimes being selfish is not that bad. You get to ignore guilt." Maki commented.

"It's not that I don't feel guilty, I just feel like I've been used with a guilty feeling and was meant to be a sinful being. But as for Angel, and perhaps Nozomi, maybe they were very bothered with it and really couldn't forgive themselves for what they did." Lady explained.

"Well, can you wake her up somehow?" Kotori asked. Lady seemed to be in a doubt. She would love to do that but maybe someone else will do a better job. The one that they knew as Sakuya approached and she gently picked up the young purplenette.

"Nozomi… wake up…" a double voice was heard from the Digimon. Nozomi looked too tired to even open her eyes.

"Ericchi…" she called her name softly before she snuggled into the Digimon.

"I-Is it just my feeling or is Eli's voice mixed in with your voice, Sakuya?" Maki asked.

"Technically, I'm Sakuya but I'm also Eli. I have to be in her form for a while since Gullveig borrowed a part of my cyber body." the fox-like digimon replied.

"Borrowed?" the girls wondered.

"Yes, when I was there, Gullveig shared a part of her memory. I saw everything that happened." Sakuya and Eli replied.

"If you tell us about it, will it help us decide what we should do next?" Umi asked.

"Yes, it surely will." Sakuya and Eli nodded.

Everyone remained silent to listen while Mary decided to take her time and cast heal on the unconscious Angel.

"A long time ago, before the City of Memory was created, the Digimons live peacefully in the Digital world. Though, at one point of the time, they were discovered by a group of scientists who were persistent on using the digital world as a resource for humans. In order to fulfill their goal, they needed a power source and they searched everywhere, even in other universes. Their search ended when one of the universes accepted their proposal. They said: We have a living power source, she is immortal and no one can defeat her as long as light exists." Eli and Sakuya explained.

"And by that, they mean, Gullveig-nya?" Rin asked.

"Yes, It's Gullveig. That other universe offered her and these scientists took her and converted her into the power source for their project which eventually created the City of Memory. That time, Gullveig had no idea of how she got there and how her body started to scatter. Her power was absorbed and she couldn't even die in this place. It was tormenting, but she knew that, perhaps, this is what she deserved. She stayed in this place quietly and followed everything that she thought of as a lead until she saw me looking at her through the screen."

"So that's when she reached out to you?" Kotori asked.

"Yes, she told me that I looked like a capable person, that's why she quickly reached out to me and hoped that I can help her but, instead of doing that, she placed her influence on my cyber body and caused me to have a connection with her. It was all just an accident." Eli and Sakuya replied.

"So when you were in pain before…?"

"Yes, my arm reacted to her data. But she exists way inside the city of memory's server and the security barriers reacted to my connection with her and considered it as an unknown connection that needs to be annihilated. When we destroyed the City of memory, she was released, but there's still one more thing that she needs to be able to return to her universe."

"What is it?" Maki asked.

"She needs her power, which means she needs to take everything that she has fueled back. That Includes our Digimon." Sakuya and Eli replied.

"Ah—then… that means—…!" Hanayo paused. She doesn't want to spell it out.

"…you have to take Polymnia…?" Maki tried to confirm.

"Yes… every Digimon here is fueled by her power. That's why, back then, we were told that they will return to Digi-eggs and be placed back in the domain I created for them." Sakuya and Eli replied.

"But what about Heidi-san?" Niko asked.

"Heidr…. You say?" Gullveig asked.

"Yeah, that woman over there with a Shadowlord Lucemon." Niko said.

"Heidr is the one called 'Judge of Darkness.' Some may also call her the Goddess of the dark law, but that title was unfit to describe her. She is a benevolent being who does not side with the darkness within or outside… she is only there to use its power and everyones know that she is the only one who can fully bend the law of darkness to her will. " Gullveig explained.

"But why did she become so evil toward us all?" Hanayo asked.

"If you take it as mere evil intentions, then that's about it. But if you try to look through the light, you will understand another thing from her." Gullveig replied.

"Are you trying to say that, if we didn't give in to our own darkness, none of this would have happened?" Umi asked.

"I did not say that. Let me explain. Part of your understanding is correct—that you could've done something else when the light of hope started to dim—but I did not say that everything that happened would not have happened. To begin with, Heidr has always desired absolution from her sins and had always wished that someone will punish her for her most regretted sin. Everyone could be fall victim to her influence and it doesn't have to be any of you." Gullveig explained.

"Just like Nozomi…" Sakuya and Eli said.

"Yes, that's why, when she fell into the darkness, your girlfriend's feelings synced with Heidr's and they are equally angry with themselves. They hate that someone who is supposed to punish them decided to respond with love and forgive them so easily. Truth to be told, the absolution they should've sought is personal absolution."

"I agree with that. I really don't feel like I am a person who can punish her." Sakuya and Eli replied.

"But we've never know what makes Heidi-san so angry… I thought she was simply trying to manipulate-nya?" Rin asked.

"Did she say all that? That must be just bait for your anger to burn. Because no one punishes her, she wants someone to punish her by causing havoc." Gullveig replied.

"W-what? Doesn't that feel like she is trying to commit suicide? That's bad!" Hanayo said.

"Hmmph, it's not like she will actually die. As long as I exist, she will never die. But that also means that, perhaps, some of your Digimon are fueled by her power. It's no wonder if she can take control over them. Just don't give in to the darkness behind your desire. That's all she needs to take control." Gullveig said.

"Ah…those words…" Maki lifted an eyebrow as she realized the meaning of it.

"Don't give in to the darkness behind your desire…" Hanayo tried to think for a bit.

"Your Greatest Desire is what we need…" Umi reminded herself what she heard related to it.

"Now that makes sense. But what exactly is the darkness behind desire?" Niko asked.

"It's like desiring something so badly and desperately trying to achieve it without seeing what they should've passed through first." Maki replied.

"Blindly running towards a dream, is that what it means?" Umi tried to confirm.

"Pretty much…" Gullveig replied.

"Then, what should we do now? Should we return our Digimon to Gullveig?" Kotori asked.

"Not yet, it's not over yet. Someone needs to finish her so that we can return to where we belongs." Gullveig replied.

"Huh? Heidr is someone from your universe too?" Maki asked.

"Yes, that's correct."

"But why does she need to be finished? I mean, please tell us why! I would love to use a peaceful way if possible!" Kotori asked.

"The other reason why Heidr is trying to commit suicide was because she owns data that can be used to annihilate the whole data. There was a data that was trying to erase me back then and she had no choice but to devour it and cause a little chaos here and there to keep that data busy with other things. The Copy paste is also a trick that she launched with her own power to be able to slow that data's work. As long as she exists, the Copy Paste will never end and the data will try to work." Gullveig explained.

"A data to annihilate the whole data…? X-Data?!" Erena raised her voice.

"Then, the only person who can endure it is…" Everyone turned to Umi and Yamato.

"M-Mee…?!" Umi raised her eyebrow.

"No, I remember that Heidr placed two X-Antibodies. There must be someone else who owns the X-Antibody. It wasn't placed properly so that Digimon may also have problems evolving." Gullveig said.

"Then… Honoka?!" the girls said again.

"Whoever that is..." Gullveig said.

"How are we going to do this then?" Niko asked.

"When you finish her, I'll take her back to my universe and also return the world's state back to how it was before the City of Memory existed. Does that sound good to you?" Gullveig replied.

"Yes, that sounds good to us." Erena replied.

"It's too bad that Tsubasa-chan might get a little disappointed with this solution. She probably will go on and complain: why wasn't I given the X-Antibody?" Anjuu said.

"It's better this way so that she remembers her place. She can try to be her girlfriend, but she can't have her all for herself. Honoka also has best friends she needs to pay attention to." Erena said.

"Ah, before I forget. I need to tell you something about the current world we are in." Gullveig said.

"I noticed. You want to tell us why we have cyber body right now, right?" Erena asked.

"Yes, this isn't the real world. This is the copied real world. Heidr probably created this place just so she doesn't damage too many things in the real world. Even though I've always known her as a merciless judge, she isn't someone who would want to put the innocent in danger. She is really nothing like me." Gullveig replied.

"Nothing like you? But you look fine to us right now. I mean, you are not even close to the word 'evil.'" Niko said.

"I'm a very-very bad person. I'm not even worthy of love. That's why everyone in my universe tried to throw me away." Gullveig said.

"Their loss. Everyone has done something bad in their life, but it doesn't mean that they can't do something good. I'm sure there will be some people in your universe who love you for who you are, someone who actually cares about you even though they might never say it out loud." Niko said.

"Niko-chan, putting on false confidence is mean, you know?" Maki said.

"H-hey! I didn't even try to do that!" Niko replied.

"Really. It's only natural for people to hate one another, but if one truly wants to be loved, all they have to do is to change. Some poor choices might have been made, but it's not like picking the right choice is as easy as rolling the dice. It will be tough and it may be a little harsh, but it will be worth it." Maki said.

"Enough about that, I shall lend each of you my power to fight with Heidr… especially her." Gullveig turned to Nozomi who is still comfortably sleeping in Sakuya's arms.

"She needs all the light I can give to help keep her on track. Her desire is too close to Heidr's desire." She continued.

"But Nozomi-chan looks like she's sleeping-nya." Rin said.

"She will wake up soon in the most embarrassing way." Sakuya and Eli said.

"Embarrassing way? How is that? I never knew there was anything that can embarrass her." Niko said.

Sakuya placed the young purplenette on the ground, then she gently pressed her lips onto her forehead.

"Eeeeeeehhhh?!" the girls around them blushed madly.

"Oi-oi! It's not like we've never seen them kissing lips to lips!" Niko said.

"I've never seen that!" Kotori said. For some reason, it almost felt like she is sad because she didn't get to see them kissing lips to lips.

"T-This is getting shameless!" Umi said.

"Will that really wake her up though?" Hanayo asked.

Carefully, the young purplenette started to open her eyes. She was then scanning around the area and found herself surrounded by the girl's concerned stare.

"W-what's with that look?!" Nozomi said as she quickly stood up.

"Whoa, she really is wide awake-nya." Rin said.

Then Nozomi turn to the sight in the front of her. She swears that felt the familiar gentle lips kissing her forehead, but if the person who kissed her just a while ago is the Digimon in front of her…

"S-Sakuya!" she exclaimed.

"You are not allowed to do that!" she continued with a hard slap on her face.

"B-but… It's me… Nozomi." the fox-like Digimon said with her double voice again.

"E-ehh?! Is that you Ericchi?! What happened here?!"

"And she truly wake up in the most embarrassing way." Maki commented with a smirk.

* * *

Back to where Tsubasa and Honoka are;

Silence still enveloped the area. They have been staring at each other very quietly And, while Honoka was still bent forward, Tsubasa remained silent in shock. She doesn't even know what to do at this rate.

"Hmmm…" the woman began to smile wider.

"You think that everything would be over with a 'sorry?'" she asked.

"I know it won't, but please, at least understand my intention. I don't want this fight to continue. There are so many people in this world and they need their lives. A lot of us are also still looking forward to the future. I don't want this world to be crushed because of some people's mistake. If one harmed person can cause you to destroy this world, then I hope that one person's apology will be able to save it as well. Please forgive us. Heidi-san!" Honoka said.

"I have to say, this is extremely ridiculous, Honoka-chan. You are so simple minded that I could laugh all day thinking of what could be in your head. My anger will never die. I hated these people because they hated me and my love. For you—someone unrelated—to apologize in their behalf, it's ridiculous. Your apology is not accepted."

"But— if that's the case, why are you not angry at those people? Why do you have to destroy this world? This world where we live and this grow. It might not be exciting, but I'm sure that it will at some point. You led us through the darkness and, even though we might be still blind to the truth right now, I have a feeling that we have finally come to the point where we no longer walk on the same path. I have heard your points, but I don't see the reason why we have to destroy this world. " Honoka said.

"My reason is nothing more than: because they deserve it. All sins and desperations are worth it. How many have fallen into the trap? Have you seen those fanatics yet? They are so all over the awakening of an absolute destroyer." Heidr replied.

"Enough! Honoka, there's something more that we are mistaken about!" Tsubasa said.

"W-what is it, Tsubasa-chan?" Honoka asked.

"The Absolute Destroyer is not that one we call infant core… the Absolute Destroyer is none other than the person who created the image! She devours energy from people's desperation! No wonder she is very well fed! So, if we want to destroy the Absolute Destroyer, then all we have to do is to destroy this woman!" Tsubasa said.

"Very good! Splendid! I love those hateful words. Please, feast on me, will you?" Heidr said before Lucy the Shadowlord Lucemon disappeared into dark fog and was absorbed by the purplenette.

"Tsubasa-chan, please remember, don't be too desperate. You are feeding her too if you do that." Honoka said. Tsubasa smiled at her and immediately held the ginger girl's hand.

"Please hold my hand tight, Honoka. You are my power and I believe in you!"

"Yes! Tsubasa-chan! I will!" Honoka replied confidently.

Ichigo and Sebastian, once again, prepared to battle. They expected a new digimon to appear but they waited and nothing came.

"Where's your Digimon? Don't tell me that you will fight on your own?" Tsubasa said.

"To begin with, I've always been alone here. Lucy is just a Digital creation that I stole. I'm his puppeteer and everything he did is my will and anything he says is what I say." Heidr replied.

"Hah! Talk about narcissistic! That also means that you were appreciating yourself a few times now." Tsubasa said.

"Sometimes it's necessary to smooth out the lies." Heidr replied before she dashed forward. Her left arm was suddenly covered in black smoke and formed into a big round shield—it looked like a Dukemon's shield in a darker color. Before it reached Tsubasa and Honoka, Sebastian ran in to counter the power, pushed her back some distance away. Yet, by the time Heidr was in mid-air, her right hand became covered with black fog and turned into a canon. She shot it so quickly and, once again, Sebastian chose to take the hit.

Ichigo was on the other side and prepared to make his offensive move. He quickly flew and formed a tornado with his claws and, by the time he got so close to hitting Heidr who already stowed away both shield and canon, he began to feel something different inside him.

Something is reacting to her presence and he doesn't know what it might be. Could it be one of the side effects of that injected power-up she made for him?

Just as his claws were very close to Heidr's body, he began to evolve into a different War Greymon form. It's like something has changed him and he became more resistant to the weakening effect around Heidr's aura.

"War Greymon X?" Tsubasa's eyes widened.

"H-how did he suddenly change?" Honoka asked in her surprise.

"About time, Ichigo." Heidr replied with a smile.

"Heidi-san…" Ichigo called her name.

"Remember anything else?" Heidr asked gently.

"Yes, you are the one who created me and Yamato… But… why do we have to do this?" Ichigo asked.

"Your choice, you want to follow me or your tamer's heart?"

"I-Ichigo! Don't betray me now!" Honoka said.

"Yamato… that must be… that Umi Sonoda's Digimon?" Tsubasa said.

"Ah, yes, of course. It's her best friend's Digimon, not yours." Heidr replied.

"Like I care about that!" Tsubasa said.

"Oh, but you do. I can sense that little seed of darkness planted within your heart." Heidr replied.

"Tsubasa-chan! Don't listen to her! I don't even understand what exactly it means!" Honoka said.

"H…Honoka, you have a War Greymon X, A War Greymon with X-Antibody. Then if Yamato is Metal Garurumon X, then your Ichigo and Yamato can combine into an Ultimate Mega Digimon, the Omnimon X." Tsubasa replied.

"Oh…? So…? What does it exactly mean to you?" Honoka asked.

Tsubasa took a moment to think.

"You are right, it means nothing. Why do I feel like there's something in it?" she replied.

As soon as she finished her sentence, a group of girls ran towards them.

"Tsubasa!" Erena shouted.

"Honoka!" Umi shouted.

"Daddy team is here to support, so is the mommy team." Anjuu said.

"A-Anjuu! Can you stop with dad and mom things already?!" Erena said.

"It can't be helped… you two went first and called out to someone as if you are both worried daddies." Anjuu said.

"Either way! We've heard everything and we will settle this." Umi said.

"Heidi-san! We appreciate all the help you have gave us, but we know something about what you kept from us and we are here to complete that!" Kotori said.

"Please don't take this as hatred… we are not doing this because we hates you, but because we now know your true intention and we are willing to cooperate with your plans." Maki said.

"What's with that all of a sudden? Don't you think it's a lot more fun to do this out of hatred?" Heidr asked.

"Even though we have a reason to hate, we choose to not to. No one likes to talk about the bitter past. I forgave you and that's what will make me feel alive." Eli, in Sakuya's form, said.

"W-wait, Eli-chan?" Honoka wondered.

"Shush you, no time for details." Niko said.

"Heidr-san, you may have controlled my emotions, but I will not be as selfish anymore. I will not give in to the darkness you have shown me. I will live in the light and let my Angel free from the chains of my own ego. My Lady will be my voice of reason but she will never be the source of darkness she was born to be." Nozomi said.

"That's poetic!" Angel in her Ophanimon form commented.

"Shush you, Angel!" Lady said.

"You might have fooled me with your shade, but I now understand that I should stay on my ground if I'm being passionate to what I do." Hanayo said.

"Yeah-nya! Even though you confused me about what justice is, I began to understand what it exactly is as I kept thinking about you. It's not about equalities, it's all about what one deserves to have or taken away." Rin said.

After they said it, Heidr seemed to be a little weakened.

"Who told you to be kind to me after all I did? Who told you all that this is the way to weaken my power?" Heidr asked.

"We didn't fake it. We heard everything from Gullveig. Now we know that you truly have a good intention and—….!"

"I see. I see what you are all doing!" Tsubasa cuts in to Niko's sentence.

"Because evil causes darkness to get stronger, you just have to reverse it to cause the darkness to weaken." she continued.

"Gullveig… that loveless fool. You just ruined my fun." Heidr rolled her eyes.

"Alright, I'll think positive about you now. Heidr-san, you are…" Tsubasa tried to think.

"Honoka-chan! Umi-chan! Here, use this! Nozomi-chan hacked this specially for you two." Kotori said as she handed Jogress card to Honoka and Umi. Honoka wondered what hack has been made, but she just has to say yes, right?

"Hurry up, Tsubasa is a fool when it comes to pretending. She is always straight forward." Erena said.

"How does that relate to anything…?" Honoka wondered.

"Alright—I can't find anything I like from you, Heidr-san!" Tsubasa said.

"Oh…"

"That's very reassuring of you. I don't mind though, I like it." Heidr replied with a giggle.

"So what are you going to do next?" she asked when her expression turned serious.

"Are you still going to complain about the fact that, perhaps, fate has deceived you?" Heidr said.

"Whatever do you mean?" Tsubasa clenched her fist. She swears to herself that she will try to endure anything that this mastermind might say.

The girls can see dark clouds beginning to appear again, surrounding the woman with differently colored irises.

"Umi-chan! Now!" Kotori said as she quickly handed a card to Umi.

"Reverse type evolution?" Umi said.

"Yes, you and Honoka-chan!" Kotori said.

"Understood. Let's go, Honoka!" Umi beckoned Honoka.

"E-Eh? Alright. Umi-chan! We will make Omnimon X, Right?"

Umi nodded before she used the first card—reverse type evolution. Her black metal garurumon X began to change its color and type, then she and Honoka have to use the Jogress card, but Honoka seemed to still be a little flustered as she look at Tsubasa.

There was something about this evolution, right? Something that may have bothered Tsubasa? She never state it and she did say that it means nothing, but…

"Tsubasa-chan…" Honoka called her out of concern.

Tsubasa remained silent.

"Oh how beautiful it will be for two heart to b unite into one powerful Digimon." Heidr's voice is heard from the expanding dark clouds.

"After all, Digimon are created through the tamer's heart. You are all lucky to know what your heart's form looks like. The Brave and Powerful War Greymon created from the endless spirit of his tamer and the Noble Warrior Black Metal Garurumon trained in most disciplined way by his tamer."

"Of course, there's the wise Phoenixmon who was finally chosen by her tamer's judgment, the graceful Rosemon who grew with the passion of her tamer, the rightful Banchou Leomon who was born to challenge the unfair along with his tamer, the scholar Dianamon who curiously learned day by day along with her tamer, the little Chaos Piedmon and his tamer who loves to be useful and make people smile, the twins who were born to fight each other yet chose to be loving towards each other, the natural-born tactician who holds the balance of the team, Sakuyamon and her tamer."

"We also can't forget about the protective Owryumon and his tamer, the obedient Lotosmon and her tamer who loves to hold responsibilities and, lastly, the furious Rust Tyranomon who is always on full offense, crushing every single thing that opposes his will."

"What are you saying? Tsubasa-chan is always agreeable!" Honoka said.

"Is she really? Or is it because your will is her will?" Heidr replied.

Tsubasa seemed troubled, though, when she felt Honoka hold her hand tighter, something lit her spirit back.

"Being in a young love might be one of the most beautiful things in this world, the freedom to choose what kind of relationship we want is one of its greatest point and to be able to sync with each other feels like you are destined to be together. At the same time, everyone knows that having a forceful partner is really troublesome, that's why some may try to avoid being in a relationship nicely and seek for an acceptable reason before it's too late." Heidr said.

"What are you talking about? I don't understand that at all, Heidi-san!" Honoka said.

"Well, it wasn't meant for you." Heidr said before she turned into a colossal Shadowlord Lucemon.

"Honoka! Use it!" Umi said loudly.

Once again, Honoka doubted as looked towards Tsubasa, but she has to do it. Ichigo and Yamato began to glow as they combined into one Ultimate Mega Digimon— Omnimon X.

By the time their evolution was complete, Heidr the Shadowlord Lucemon blasted a dark breath from her mouth towards Sebastian who seemed to have been weakened as his tamer became confused. She knows well what Heidr is trying to say and, even though she had been against her for a while now, the words she just said are somewhat true. She can't disagree, but she also can't agree just yet.

She has only been looking at Honoka and was determined to accept her however she is, but what about her? Has she looked into a mirror? Will it be fine for Honoka to accept someone like her? Perhaps what Honoka tried to do is, indeed, trying to softly reject her.

The attack that was close to reaching Sebastian was parried by Yamato and Ichigo in their Omnimon X form. Then the other Digimon began to make his move. Leon lunged forward and thrust his sword towards the colossal dragon, though his skin is very rough and it barely made a scratch.

"Sh-She is so tough-nya!" Rin said as Leon jumped back to her side.

Suddenly, Mary slashed her whip at Leon.

"M-Mary! What are you doing?!" Hanayo said.

"I—I don't know! My body is moving on its own!" Mary replied.

"The power-up, I knew there was something fishy in it." Niko said.

Then suddenly, a swift sword is thrown right next to Niko.

"N-Niko-chan! I didn't mean it!" Chibby said.

"Not you too!" Niko yelled at him

Then Polymnia suddenly kicked Chibby.

"P-Polymnia!" Niko yelled at Maki's Dianamon.

"Well, I always wanted to do that but it wasn't me who made my feet kick him." Polymnia said.

"Are these all the effects from that power ups she gave us?" Maki asked.

"I said it!" Niko said.

Angel and Lady appeared to be trying to hold each other to keep the other from attacking, It looked like two kids playing rough house.

"Ericchi, how do you feel?" Nozomi asked.

"Something is indeed trying to take control over my body, but I think this isn't a big deal. Try to cure us, Kotori!" Eli, in Sakuya's form, said.

"I-I tried to, but...!" Kotori pointed to the sky. Suzaku has been spinning around the air endlessly.

"K-Kotori-chuuunn... I'm diizzzyy…chuunnn!" Suzaku said.

The sound of Heidr's laughter echoed all over the place. She really enjoyed the chaotic scene.

"Yamato! Ichigo! There's no time to lose again! Just… kill her and destroy the X-Data!" Umi said clearly.

"Got it!" Ichigo and Yamato quickly made their move. He flew up and was about to thrust his sword against the gigantic head of Shadowlord Lucemon, but, before it could reach, Neisha appeared and set up a barrier to stop it.

"Neisha! What happened to you?!" Anjuu said.

"I don't know! I didn't mean to do this at all!" Neisha replied.

"Strange, Neisha didn't take any power up so it wasn't the power up that caused them to do this!" Maki said.

"Gggrraaahhh!" Tatsuya charged towards Neisha, pushing her away from the Shadowlord Lucemon.

"Why is everyone so messed up like this?" Honoka said when she quickly released Tsubasa's hand and jumped away to dodge Tatsuya and Neisha. Tsubasa seemed to be a lot more troubled when she realized that her hand was released.

"Tatsuya, you are too careless!" Erena said.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!" Tatsuya said.

"This is really bad for us, Honoka… we doubt we can fully make an offensive move. We can't risk killing our allies." Umi said as she helped Honoka get up.

Heidr the Shadowlord Lucemon flew up in the air, covering the ground with her shadow, and began to charge her powerful move. The magic circles above her wings began to absorb power from the area and the wind began to blow fiercely.

"Hey, Tsubasa!" Eli in Sakuyamon form called her.

Tsubasa is still silent. She had been keeping up with her surroundings but she still has no idea what she should do at this rate.

"Tsubasa, listen to me. Can you control Sebastian?" she asked.

"And what of it? Can I really do something here?" Tsubasa replied.

"Are you really thinking about the battle right now? I feel like you are thinking of something else… something that is not related to the battle." Eli replied.

"I'm really thinking of the battle right now. I told Honoka that playing a full offense means that we are looking for the right time to launch our attacks. I don't think I'm in the right position or the right person to make an attack right now." Tsubasa said.

"Why?"

"Simple… because if I do, I will harm someone. Ichigo and Yamato have tried to do it and, as you can see, Neisha was so close to taking the hit. If it was actually a powerful attack, I'm sure that she might have been truly harmed." Tsubasa replied.

"Is that really your only reason?" Eli asked.

"Yes, nothing else." Tsubasa replied.

"Are you going to do the same about your commitment?"

Tsubasa was surprised to hear her question.

"What do you think you should do as the number one person who cares about Honoka?"

"I don't understand. Why is this even related to that?" Tsubasa asked.

"Let me give you a hint. Your crush is about to make her move, but she has no opportunity to do so. Her friends are scrambled into a mess and one wrong move will harm them. She loves her friends, she doesn't want to harm them, but she really needs to make her move as soon as possible before we are all destroyed into pieces." Eli said.

"I See. I see where you are getting at. Even though this might be a move that she should do, I, as someone who is going to be committed to her, will have to support her with whatever I can do for her. I don't have to be fully involved in it, but a support is enough and this time, all she needs is the opportunity so I will create that for her! " Tsubasa said.

"Good thinking. I'm glad you got it." Eli replied.

"People will mistake me as a fool, but I'll call genuine effort! I'll show her that I'm going to be her perfect match! I'm going to show her friends, her family and everyone around her life that I—…!"

She took a deep breath. Sebastian also seemed to be back to full health. Honoka who had been watching from a distance smiled at her.

"Honoka! Focus!" Umi said.

Honoka nodded.

"Umi-chan, our opportunity will come." she said.

"I know." Umi replied.

Sebastian dashed and collected all the Digimon except for Omnimon X.

"Be gentle to Polymnia!" Maki complained.

"She deserves it. Everyone deserves it right now for being so easily controlled into fighting each other!" Niko said.

When Sebastian was able to collect them, she pushed them towards Eli in her Sakuyamon form. The Fox woman-like Digimon jumped high and bashed her staff down to the ground. The time stopped and everyone inside the circle couldn't move.

"Now! Honoka!" Umi said loudly.

"Let's go! Ichigo! Yamato!" Honoka pointed up to the gigantic dragon who was just about to finish channeling her powerful attack.

Omnimon X lunged his sword as he dashed without a single doubt. His sword pierced through the gigantic dragon's mouth and up to his head—a fatal blow to end all the darkness, and a mighty canon followed to create the brightest light as it crushed the dragon's body.

 _ **As the fragment of the Shadowlord Lucemon dispersed, another light shone upon the dark sky. Unknown Circles appeared under their feet and a fragment of life returned to one whose desire is a resurrection. The frozen time began to move once again with the romantic petals blowing all over the place without harming anyone. Along with the fading lights, all the Digital Monsters started to shine and reverted to their starting point, unleashing the bonds they have made in this short time. One by one they stole the chance to gaze into each other.**_

 _ **Will this be the end of their meeting?**_

" _ **Splendid." the voice of the defeated echoed.**_

" _ **It may only require one human to destroy the world, but it always requires more than one to protect the world." she continued.**_

" _ **Please…"**_

" _ **Enjoy this day as the day of victory and continue to grow the world with you tomorrow. May we meet again under the shade of life, unless you would rather stay above it…"**_

* * *

 _ **THE END**_

* * *

 _ **Alright, everyone, this is the last Fan Fiction I made. Again, thank you for the supports and love! I got 1 extra chapter for this and 1 extra for FITIS. I hope you enjoy them as well ^^**_

 **Credit:**

 **-Love Live! (Obviously)**

 **-Digimon World (1-2-3, Re-Digitize, Cyber Sleuth)**

 **-Mass Effect**

 **-Valkyrie Profile**

 **-etc.**


	18. EXTRA

**Extra here! I forgot to mention, all these editing are thanks to Lightriver33.**

 **Thanks to you for comment/faves/follows!**

 **Please enjoy them ^^**

* * *

"Dancing-Dancing, Non-stop my Dancing!"

The song echoed in her mind. She wondered why the song hasn't left her thoughts yet since she has never been fond of music or anything related to it. Her life is always filled with culinary knowledge and the like so there is no way for her to be able to memorize a song.

Putting that aside, she probably needs to remember what she really needs to do in the morning.

Her alarm clock began to sing, her cellphone began to shout. Both are set to remind her that she needs to wake up for school.

Slowly, she hit snooze on both of them then raised her body stiffly and scanned the room with half-closed eyes. Her eyes are still too heavy and the light is still too bright.

After a few minutes passed, she finally decided to get off the bed and walk to the bathroom. There's nothing wrong with her life today, or so she thinks. She turned to her cellphone, which she placed on her end table.

Another minute passed and her head finally settled into do the next thing to has do in the morning: take a bath.

After she finished her preparation, she walked to her desk, checked her school bag and matched it with her schedule. It's all set and it's time for her to go to school. She was about to leave but there's something on her desk that she doesn't quite remember. It's a small device attached to a pair of goggles. She wonders what it might be, but her heart told her to bring that to school today so she took it anyway.

When she walked past her little sister's room, she noticed a similar device hanging near the mirror, along with a pair of goggles. Would it hurt to examine that?

She walks in to the room, carefully examining the device, until her little sister entered the room.

"Aaah! Onee-chan! Don't touch that!" Yukiho said.

"Oh… Yukiho, I just wonder how come you have that device too?" Honoka said.

"You mean… my Digivice?" Yukiho snatched her digivice.

"My digivice is older than yours. I have an Ulforce Veedramon, you know! I'm about to challenge the S-rank tournament today." she continued.

"S-Rank… Tournament…" Honoka tried to recall where she had heard that before.

"Sheesh, really, I wish that I could actually meet my Digimon. They are so adorable and it feels like they are really alive! They even able to converse with me! The person who created this game is truly a magnificent person!" Yukiho said.

Now there's something off with that, but Honoka isn't sure what exactly is wrong with that statement.

"Uhm… where are you going to play?" Honoka asked. She wonders if she can hook a clue from that question.

"Anywhere with internet connection, duh! This is an Augmented Reality game after all!" Yukiho said.

"Oh…" Honoka replied innocently.

"Hmm… I know, why don't we have a duel with our Digimon? The loser buys the winner chocolate milk!" Yukiho said.

"Uuh…what to say to that…" Honoka tried to think.

"Let's go-let's go!" Yukiho said before she pulled her big sister out of the house. When they came across the kitchen, Honoka could see a holographic creature which appeared like a red dinosaur standing next to her mother. She overheard her talking to it.

"Wah, those Manjuu looks so delicious! I wish I could eat them!" said the creature.

"I wish I can pet you too! You are such a good dino and have been saying a lot of good things to me!" her mother said.

Once again, Honoka is left with a question in her mind. What's wrong with that statement?

* * *

As soon as she and her little sister are outside;

With both of them ready to go to school, Yukiho wore her goggles and activated her digivice. Honoka noticed that, when her little sister pressed a button, a blue, warrior-like, dragon digimon with a big V shaped chest piece appeared.

"Ulforce Veedramon at your service!" the holographic creature said.

"Your turn, go summon your Digimon!" Yukiho said.

Honoka nodded. When her fingers touched her own digivice, she began to recall a few things about it out of nowhere. It's like her memory was re-written by someone, though she isn't sure about it at all. Perhaps this is a real memory?

She summoned her digimon. A yellow lizard-like Digimon appeared and, as he look at her, his eyes sparked in excitement.

"Waaaaaaaa! Honoka-chan! I miss you so much! It felt like a thousand years of waiting!" he said.

Now that he acted like he knows her, she thought… does she know him? She tried to recall his name.

"I… Ichigo." She said.

"Awwww! You remembered my nickname! I was already committed to renaming myself Sirloin!" Ichigo said.

"Wow, your Digimon is a clown." Yukiho said.

"Ehehe, well, he's always been like this." Honoka replied.

"Now, are you ready for the battle?" Yukiho asked confidently.

"Battle?" Ichigo turned to Yukiho and Ulforce Veedramon.

"Yeah, she was asking for a duel." Honoka said.

"Hmmm… battle huh…" Ichigo took his time to think.

"Alright!" he nodded.

"Honoka-chan, evolve me!" he continued.

"Ok!" Honoka nodded. For some reason, she can remember how to evolve her Digimon. Again, it felt like this is just a false memory written in her head.

Yukiho giggled. It looked like she expected her big sister to have a weak Digimon since she played the game longer than her. Though, by the time Ichigo finished his evolution, Yukiho's jaw dropped.

"W-wa-war Greymon X!?" she exclaimed.

"Let's battle!" Ichigo said as he got on his fighting stance.

* * *

The Otonokizaka High school;

"Waaah… Nishikino-san! You have such a fabulous Lunamon!" a girl appreciated the holographic rabbit-like Digimon sitting atop the red-haired girl's table.

"Thanks, she will join a beauty contest soon." Maki replied arrogantly.

"Lunamon is a premium Digimon, she is always instantly popular. I bet she will win!" another girl said.

"I know, she deserves that." Maki replied.

"Do you have a nickname for your Lunamon?" another girl asked.

"Yeah, Polymnia." Maki replied.

"Aaah! Such a cute nickname!" they appreciated again while Polymnia sat proudly in front of Maki.

"Woah, Maki-chan is always busy with crowds-nya." Rin commented.

"Hehe, I think that's better than being busy with Niko-chan, right?" Hanayo said.

"True-nya!" Rin said.

"By the way, Mary-chan told me she wants to browse at the flower shop again today. What about Leon-chan?" Hanayo asked.

"He wants to play with the police's Digimon again-nya!" Rin said.

"Uuuh… couldn't he have a better hobby than that?"

"I don't know-nya!"

"Hnnggh… I'm just glad they can't cause an actual chaos! If no—… wait." Hanayo paused.

"What's wrong-nya?" Rin asked.

"I don't know. I feel like I just said something weird?" Hanayo said.

"Hmm… I felt so too, but who cares-nya!" Rin said.

* * *

The student council room;

"…now-now, you see, Nozomi, I sold a few of card packs, paid real money, then I bought more with game money. Don't you think that's already good way to make my living?" a specific black haired girl said.

"Yes, but, I feel like something is still missing. If only we can travel into the city that was rumored to existe. What was it called again… The White City in The Garden of Glass domain?" Nozomi replied.

"It's possible if we manage to acquire an energy source that equals or exceeds the sun's energy. The scientists say that is the only thing they lack right now." a specific blonde girl replied.

"Heh, either way though, why would you want to travel into the Digital City?" Niko said.

"Because if I could be there, I can at least understand my market." Nozomi replied.

"Tch, I feel like that will only cause chaos. Besides, just imagine if someone gets addicted to the game… it can be bad for their life, you know!" Niko said.

"It's not like it will be a bad thing for us. I don't think any of us will be too addicted, right Ericchi?" Nozomi said.

"As long as it doesn't cause anyone to lose something important, I think any of that works." Eli replied.

"Ngghh… well, I guess I'm happy with the current game. I don't feel like I want more depth in this game. See you later, by the way… I need to copy someone's homework today. Then I'll be busy to prepare chibby for today's beauty contest." Niko said before she left the room.

"Sheesh, Nikocchi… she should think out of the box sometime. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to be in touch with our Digimon?" Nozomi said before she turned around to face Eli.

She can see Eli is about to respond to her, but a call suddenly came in to her Digivice. Eli decided to accept the call first.

"Ah, Sakuya. What's up…?" the blonde said with a very friendly tone of voice.

For some reason, Nozomi feels like she has felt this kind of horrible feeling before, but she doesn't know what kind of scar exist within her heart. She feels like crying, she feels insecure, and she feels like she is about to do something really, really bad.

"Pssstt! Nozomi-chan!" a voice is heard from her digivice.

"Angel…?" Nozomi replied to the voice as she turn her eyes away from Eli.

"Lady told me to tell you that today is a hug day. I can't hug you, Lady can't hug you, so can you ask Eli-chan to hug you?" Angel said.

"Why are you using my name? I didn't say that today is a hug day!" Lady complained.

"There, Angel, are you making random stories again?" Nozomi giggled.

"Nozomi-chan, you are important to me, you are important to Lady too! I will support you with whatever choice you make in your life! But Lady said that she won't support you if you do something stupid. Lady is a mean ass." Angel said.

"Potty head! Who are you calling a mean ass?!" another voice said.

"You." Angel said innocently.

Nozomi could hear a loud spank in the background and once again, Nozomi couldn't help but giggle.

"Go hug her now, Nozomi-chan. You won't regret it." Lady said.

"I will. Thank you, Lady and Angel." Nozomi nodded before she hung up. The purplenette turned around to face the blonde, but she was surprised when she saw Eli offering a big hug to her.

"Ericchi….?" Nozomi was astounded by what she sees.

"Sakuya told me that you need a very big hug right now. Since she can't hug you, so she wanted me to hug you." Eli said.

Nozomi smiled. She can feel a single tear of happiness coming out of her eyes.

"Well, Ericchi, if it is from you, one big hug is not enough. I want us to be in bed later. Let's do it like usual, ok?" she replied teasingly.

"N-Nozomi!"

* * *

Akihabara;

The city is crowded as usual. Many people are walking around with a Digivice attached somewhere in their attire. Some summoned their Digimon as they shopped while others are just taking a fun stroll with them. In front of a specific High-school, Kotori and Umi stood patiently, waiting for someone to finally show up.

"Hnnng… Honoka-chan, why is she so late…" Kotori sighed.

"She said that Yukiho refused to let her go until she can defeat her Ichigo." Umi said.

"Oh… I guess Yukiho doesn't like to lose…" Kotori said.

"Precisely…" Umi sighed.

A specific short brunette was walking right behind them.

"Really, Honoka needs to be more disciplined." Umi said.

Then the specific brunette began walking backwards.

"Will she come here, though?" Kotori asked.

"She certainly will. She said she is dueling Yukiho while walking right now." Umi said.

The specific brunette's eyes lit up and she quickly ran to another direction.

"Haah, for real. I've been getting a little weary ever since Honoka actually started a real idol club. It also feels strange that Digimon send me fan mail sometimes. Yamato said that when he runs the dojo in his world using the Sonoda training technique, there would always be some Digimon who will begin to dance to our songs… or worse, some of them also use Suzaku's mailing service to send it to Yamato." Umi said.

"Song… you mean the song that we made when we—…" Kotori paused.

"When did we sing that? Why I can't remember." she continued.

"I can't recall when we sang that too, but the video exists and it's been getting a lot of attention. I think that's all that matters. How shameful." Umi said with a sigh.

The specific brunette returned and, this time, she is standing right behind the two, carrying a bouquet of flowers and a loaf of bread.

"Ah, there, that must be Honoka." Umi said as she spotted a ruckus. A few people were yelling about the existence of a War Greymon X while some are just cheering for the intense battle between him and Ulforce Veedramon.

"Hono—…."

"Honoka!" the specific brunette shouted.

Umi and Kotori quickly turned around to face the Brunette.

"Tsubasa?!" they said together.

"Honokaaa!" Tsubasa ran closer to the ginger girl. When they were about to collide, the short brunette quickly pressed her lips on the ginger girl's cheek and handed both the Bouquet of flowers and the loaf of bread.

"Read my text, ok? Call you later!" Tsubasa said before she ran cheerfully to her High-school.

Once again, Yukiho, who had been following her big sister, experienced another jaw dropping moment. Honoka is a little flustered, though she decided to continue walking towards her best friends anyway.

"Honoka, you need to be less shameful." Umi said.

"Eeh? What? Me?" Honoka wondered.

"Now-now, Honoka-chan. I bet you and your girlfriend have a date today, right?" Kotori said.

"Eh? I do?" Honoka checked her phone. Yukiho seemed to be bitter in the background as she yelled at her sister about something until Ichigo returned to Honoka's digivice after winning another battle against Ulforce Veedramon.

"I can't believe it sometimes… for a person like you to have a girlfriend… Who would've expected anyone would be so charmed by a sloppy, oblivious, and undisciplined character like you?" Umi said.

"Hehe, Umi-chan, when you said that, you sounded like a father and Honoka-chan is the son." Kotori commented.

"Why am I a son?" Honoka said.

"Putting that matter aside, if you have a date today, go on… but you should return before dusk. Then you have to study hard for the mid-semester exams… I'll be watching. As for tomorrow, don't you dare plan a date out of the blue. We promised everyone we will have a dance practice after school." Umi said.

"O-Ok! Got it! Umi-chan!" Honoka said.

"Hehe, Umi-chan, Honoka-chan! We should go to school already."

"Ah, you are right, Kotori! Let's go, Honoka." Umi said.

"Alright, let's go!"

* * *

UTX High School;

Watching her lover to carry a bouquet of flower in hand and walking off proudly with her best friends might be a new thing that Tsubasa enjoys in her life. She has learned about what it means to be committed to someone, even though it wasn't a smooth road for her. She couldn't recall too many things before today, but it's no longer an issue for her. The lesson about what a commitment is remained in her mind. Lovers are not meant to serve as limits, they are meant to support and to take a bigger step in life.

It's all thanks to someone who made her point clear, even though it was not quite the right thing to do.

One human can destroy the world, but it always need more than one to protect the world. It's the truth that may sound a little harsh, but it's not too complicated to understand. If she applies it's meaning to the idea of commitment in a romantic relationship, it only takes one person to betray in order to cause chaos, but it needs both persons in the relationship to maintain it. Both have to understand each other, both have to protect each other, and both have to love each other.

Now that her ginger girl away from her line of sight, she turned to look in the direction of her classroom where Erena and Anjuu seem a little busy chatting with their Digimon. The only thing that enters Tsubasa's mind when the two are talking to each other are related to either business or something else that she was never interested in. Not that she didn't like them… she just prefers to join in lighter conversations.

Erena and Anjuu are her best friends and, despite being different, they are always so supportive of her. She is really glad that they are yhere for her. Perhaps she could appreciate their friendship by inviting them and the other group for dinner later?

The bell rings and it's time to start the morning classes. Their teacher walked in and placed her book on the table.

"Good morning, teacher!" the students said

"Good morning everyone." The teacher replied.

"So, I guess each of you already know about the recent popular game, Digimon Online. The system of the game is fantastic as it makes humans feel like they havea real partner since they can speak with you as if they really understand our language. Today, we have a guest who will explain further about Digimon Online and she will even give you tips and tricks to evolve your Digimon. But, I want you to make a report about this meeting and make sure each of you submit it before this weekend. Got it?"

"Got it!" the students replied.

"Alright, please welcome our guest, Heidi-san."

When Tsubasa heard her name, her eyes widened. She feels like she knows this name and, for some reason, it caused her to feel uncomfortable.

The woman called as Heidi-san walked in. She has a very beautiful, romantic gaze, glossy pink lips, light fair skin, side braided purple hair and eyes with different colors—the rare incomplete Heterochromia Iridium. Both of her Iris are blue with green as the inner color and a few strokes of yellow can be seen close to the small black pupil. She has a mysterious smile that she showed as soon as she stepped right in front of the classroom.

Did she truly know this woman from somewhere? Who is she?

* * *

 **EXTRA END**

* * *

 **Alright, so There's** onlly FITIS **(From If To I'm Sure) 2nd Extra left. It gonna take a while so please be patient. Also, I'm still re-writing Secret Romance in AO3, and also doing some short FF request (Such as "The Desire of Witch and Pirate" in AO3) that got delayed. I hope you can enjoy them too!**


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